Dead Samaritan – The Devil Tunes

Up until the emergence of Lost Society last year, newer Finnish thrash was almost entirely off my radar. While I had no doubts that the country could pump out great thrash metal, it seemed harder to come by than music from Germany or the UK. Evidently I wasn’t looking in the right places until now because Dead Samaritan has been around for a while. Forming over a decade ago, this Finnish group recently released their second full-length album entitled “The Devil Tunes”. It is a fantastic mix of thrash, death, and black metal. At times, there are even hints of melodeath. Both the thrash and melodeath elements come through primarily in the songwriting and the riffs. There are plenty of furious, headbanging-inducing riffs. Additionally, however, Dead Samaritan knows when to use melody. Opening track “In For The Kill” has a fantastic palm muted riff just over half way through that shows the band’s melodic sensibilities. It isn’t just this track that displays this tendency towards melody though. Quite a few songs have great leads or harmonized sections, such as the intro to “The Madman’s Portrait”. Another example is the guitar solo section in "Darkness Brings The Beast", which sounds like pure classic 80's metal. Additionally, the band is able to keep the music interesting when there isn’t a thrashy riff, which is something a lot of thrash bands struggle with. One instance of this is the chorus of “Out With Your Feet First”, which hits some power chords that ring out, leaving room for the vocals. This section is catchy, and is reminiscent of something Carcass would do on “Heartwork”.

The death and black metal elements come through in the vocal performance of singer Valendis Suomalainen. Her approach is incredibly harsh, leaning slightly more towards black metal than death. Surprisingly, her words are quite understandable. While you won’t pick out everything she says, it is definitely possible to catch most of it with some attentive listening. Her voice is a major differentiating aspect of this record because it takes it in more of a Skeletonwitch vein than a standard thrash band.

It is difficult to be critical towards “The Devil Tunes”. Although the album doesn’t blow me away from a songwriting perspective, it is still a very solid effort. Every track is deserving of its place ands its length. The production works well (ie: the bass is easy to hear, and nothing sounds bad). There’s enough variety throughout the record to keep things interesting (largely due to the injection of melody). Ultimately, this album is a very satisfying experience and will appeal to anyone who digs thrash metal and harsher vocals.

Be sure to check out and like Dead Samaritan on Facebook!

Highlights

"In For The Kill"

"The Madman's Portrait"

"The Devil's Tune"

Final Rating

4.0/5 or 80%. 

Written by Scott

Infiltrator – Infiltrator

After releasing a demo in 2012, Philadelphia’s Infiltrator got back to work by releasing a self-titled EP in 2013 (re-released on cassette earlier this year by Unspeakable Axe Records). The artwork for this release suggests something raw and dirty, and that’s exactly what Infiltrator delivers. At its core, this EP is pure speed metal, but the band incorporates many influences beyond standard speed metal groups like Agent Steel or Metal Church. The primary influence is more on the blackened side of things. Drawing on the spitting venomous vocals of Cronos, Infiltrator’s singer attacks the listener with his words, creating a sound that perfectly complements that rough production. In an interesting twist, the band counters this dark sound with fantastic use of melody. About halfway through “Hellripper”, for example, is an excellent guitar break that quickly builds into a more atmospheric section (complete with “whoa-ohs”), until finally erupting in some virtuosic guitar work.

Great guitar work is not limited to this first song. Whether it is through impressive shredding or unleashing fiery riffs, the guitar playing on “Infiltrator” is top-notch. It’s even surprising at times. Returning to the aforementioned “Hellripper” for a moment, near the end of the song is a wicked harmonized lead. Its appearance is incredibly brief, and for many it would like pass by their ears, but as a huge fan of the melodic power metal scene in Europe, this was an unexpected, but welcome surprise as it was reminiscent of bands like Helloween or Gamma Ray.

The second song on this release is definitely the strongest. The title “Crush The False” says it all. This is no-holds barred speed metal the way it was meant to be done. Anyone who is trying to hide the fact that they like Ratt from their friends will be immediately obliterated by the huge backing vocals of “CRUSH! THE FALSE!”. (I like Ratt, but the point stands; this song is not for the weak-hearted). This track features another dazzling display of guitar work, as Infiltrator’s guitarist runs up and down the fretboard with ease. Though there is one lead in this song that is somewhat reminiscent of a lead from a Megadeth song (“Sudden Death”) it feels more like a coincidence than anything else.

The remaining two songs on the EP are also enjoyable, though they don’t live up to the incredibly high standard set by the first two. “Sacrifice” is a cover of the classic Bathory tune, and though nobody does it quite like Quorthon himself, it is a more than serviceable attempt. “Hordes of Hades (Deathbangers)” is a bit punkier than the other tracks (particularly noticeable in the drum intro), but is ultimately right in line with what the band has done on the rest of this EP. It does however, have one of the most technical riffs on the EP (at about 2 minutes and 15 seconds in). On the whole, “Infiltrator” is an impressive release. The band gives a fresh take on a sound that has been done by many others, and this release definitely leaves the listener wanting more.

Be sure to check out and like Infiltrator on Facebook!

Highlights

"Hellripper"

"Crush The False"

Final Rating

4.25/5 or 85%. 

Written by Scott

Obsessör – Assassins of the Pentagram

Obsessör hails from Germany, and is a 4-piece group playing some intense black/thrash metal. Only a few years removed from their debut album, the band is releasing their second full-length album: “Assassins of the Pentagram”. This album is violent, vicious, and contains not a single moment of compromise. The music is always fast, and the riffs are as old school as possible. One area where Obsessör does go a bit of a different direction is in the vocalist. Their singer does more growling than screaming or yelling. In this sense, he’s not dissimilar from a standard death metal vocalist, but his technique is a bit more gravelly. The most interesting part of this vocal performance is the high-pitched shrieking. No doubt this is paying great homage to the mighty Schmier (Destruction), as there are many parts where Obsessör’s vocalist hits absurdly high notes that are incredibly comical (though quite awesome as well). These moments occur often, and in pretty much every track, and are a great way to break up the monotony of a more one-dimensional vocal approach.

Musically Obsessör doesn’t bring a lot that is new to the table. There’s nothing wrong with that. The tried and true formula of speed, great riffs, and shredding solos is always a winner. Perhaps a slight criticism could be levied on the band because of the lack of simplistic songwriting. To be fair though, black/thrash is a really dirty style of metal that gets at the roots of less complex bands like Venom. In any case this doesn’t really hurt “Assassins of the Pentagram” very much because there is always something worthwhile going on. While this makes it difficult to pick out individual favourites, it means that the entire album is an enjoyable listen. One thing that didn’t seem particularly effective, however, was the use of blast beats. They appear in “Hordes of the Goat Kult” and the cover of Destruction’s “Devil’s Soldiers”. The biggest problem is that they’re a little bit slow, and it makes the tempo of the music feel less rapid than if a standard thrash/punk beat were to be used. Nevertheless, these occurrences are so few and far between, that they do no major damage to the quality of the record.

The production on “Assassins of the Pentagram” is pretty solid. The drums are not overproduced and are very natural sounding. This is particularly noticeable in the snare sound, which cracks nicely. Additionally, the bass is near the forefront of the mix, and though it does not take focus often, it is always contributing something worthwhile. The guitars fit in well, with a bit of a buzz to them. Everything is mixed appropriately, and there are really no complaints about the production. With “Assassins of the Pentagram”, Obsessör has put together an impressive effort. Anyone who prefers their metal to be witching and/or blasphemous is sure to enjoy this effort!

Be sure to check out and like Obsessör on Facebook!

Highlights

All of it.

Final Rating

4.2/5 or 84%. 

Written by Scott

Mortal Scepter – Demo

If there’s one thing the world needs more of, it’s blackened thrash metal. There is something incredibly satisfying about hearing thrash that is incredibly primal and evil in nature. For that reason, I get really excited to hear from bands like Mortal Scepter, who play this style of thrash in the way it was meant to be done. The band’s 4-track demo is their first release, and is an absolutely wicked offering of depraved thrash metal for anyone who enjoys bands like Witchtrap, or even the first Destruction EP. Interestingly, the opening track, “Satan’s Arrival”, goes in a bit of a different direction. Make no mistake, it is firmly rooted in blackened thrash, but it also takes a ton of influence from the guitar playing of Mike Scaccia of Rigor Mortis. Tremolo-picked leads are abundant throughout this track, and they make it incredibly memorable. Despite being an instrumental, “Satan’s Arrival” is always offering up something interesting. This song sets the bar high, and while the rest of the demo is fantastic, “Satan’s Arrival” is definitely the highlight.

The other three songs exemplify what makes this style of music great. If early thrash metal can be thought of as the New Wave of British Heavy Metal with more speed, then blackened thrash metal can be thought of as the same but with more Satan. Seriously, some of the riffs on this record sound like amped up long-lost Grim Reaper riffs (see: “Nuclear Armageddon”). To be fair to Mortal Scepter, they also thrash out pretty hard at times. “Violent Revenge” is the most ripping track on this demo, as it is a relentless assault of furious riffs. The aggression of these songs is amplified by the general noisiness of the production. The drums in particular really add to the atmosphere. They’re loud, and little to no attempt has been made to balance out the cymbals with the rest of the instruments. Often times, this can really hurt an album, but in Mortal Scepter’s case, it works to their advantage. This is particularly noticeable when the ride cymbal gets going, and is even better when the band slows down a bit and uses the ride to create an uneasy feeling (such as the one at the 2:35 mark of "Violent Revenge". This propensity towards noise largely drowns out the bass playing, but this album is still incredibly chaotic even without enough low end. The vocals on this demo are of the harsher variety. Though they don’t quite cross over into full-on black metal, they are definitely quite close.

On the whole, this is one impressive demo. It seems like, on average, bands playing this style of music are just better at writing riffs. There isn’t a single riff on this demo that isn’t going to cause some mayhem. While some may see the lyrical approach towards Satan as a bit cliché or tired at this point, it really adds to the whole product for me. Black/thrash is a style of music that is meant to be fun, and it does that through sounding like pure evil. Mortal Scepter embody the spirit of evil, and that’s why this demo is so effective.

Be sure to check out and like Mortal Scepter on Facebook!

Highlights

"Satan's Arrival"

"Nuclear Armageddon"

Final Rating

4.4/5 or 88%. 

Written by Scott