Toxik - Breaking Clas$ EP (2017)

Toxik was another of those 80s thrash hopefuls that I'm pretty sure most of us old heads never thought we'd hear from again, so when they had a proper reformation in the 2010s I was quite elated to hear more of that hybrid of thrash, speed and power metal that they initiated with their shrieking debut World Circus, and then refined in the more memorable, progressive Think This. The Breaking Class$ EP more or less gets them back on the horse, and frankly sounds like a natural continuation on their sophomore sound, if leaning a bit more towards the clinical, scalpel-riffing thrash (which they'd delve even further into later). The material reunites reunites axe-lord Josh Christian with Charles Sabin's vocals, and a new rhythm section in Shane Boulos and James deMaria that moves in lockstep to the janky rhythmic explorations found herein.

Yes, this was the most technical wizardry and arguable 'experimentation' you'd have heard from Toxik yet, building upon the potential of the second full-length, nudging just past it, but not necessarily in a flashy way. A lot of the strong moments here on these three tracks are slower to mid-paced grooves in which Josh splays out all these surgical, melodic riffing patterns that give this one a real eerie, cautionary vibe about it. Lots of double bass driving the rhythms to help modernize them from the 80s material, but as they swerve into the chorus hooks, it will definitely come across as material that could have fit right in with Think This. Intelligent thrash metal which delivers the listener of this niche an adventure that they simply hadn't been on through the leagues of pizza-thrash nostalgia, Bay Area or Teutonic cloning that so many of the re-thrash bands pursued. All the players are on point here, whether they're speeding along at a rapid clip or breaking into grooves or even a few riffs that sound tongue-in-cheek, like in the blazing title track.

Sabin might not be quite so effortlessly shrill here as he was decades before, but he still sounds rather good and I've always enjoyed the shifts between his mid-ranged raving and the creepier high pitch that he alternates in to give this that more psychotic, thrilling feel. The guitars are obviously top notch as this man is just one of our East Coast scene's unsung heroes in the field, making it all sound easy but still prioritizing riffs or leads that will catch your ear rather than jerk himself off. As a sampler EP of a potential future Toxik, this was quite encouraging to hear after so many years, and though I know this wasn't technically their first material since getting back on the train (the In Humanity demo came out before, but I hadn't really listened through it), they really feel as if no time has passed at all, other than maybe the drumming. The songs here aren't quite Think This-level quality, but certainly solid.

Verdict: Win [7.5/10]

https://toxikmetal.net/

Vendetta - Black as Coal (2023)

Vendetta's earlier 80s material had a lot of personality to it, and Brain Damage stands as one of my favorites in that second or third tier of German thrash metal, a record with some tongue-in-cheek elements that felt like a more tightly controlled, dynamic alternative to Tankard. But since the group's 2002 reunion, I haven't been able to connect with much of what they put out. The first of those albums, Hate, was the best of the three before this one, but it's been dodderingly average thrash metal which lags way behind the renewed efforts and energy of juggernauts like Kreator, Sodom and Destruction. Black and Coal makes an honest attempt to bridge the band back to its glory days, and it certainly does sound like a seasoned, confident group which knows its business, but this one just never quite goes the distance that it needs.

Let me be clear, the musicianship is totally adequate, with some thundering drum-work, a reasonable bevy of rhythm guitars with a nice chunky modern tone that can also convey the melody or leads, and vocals that fit the Vendetta style, though this is the same front-man they'd had since reuniting, and not quite as charismatic as the earlier albums when the English was probably a little more challenging. But to be fair, you could convince me this was the other guys just a bit older if I wasn't paying attention to my notes. So Black as Coal has almost the whole package going for it, except for good songs...it has all the finish and features of your contemporary thrashing, produced to current standards of its peers, and understands how to implement some degree of dynamic range, but very, very few of the guitar riffs here or chorus parts remain in the memory even momentarily after you hear them. You'll hear some nods to their classic material, only a bit more iron-clad due to the modern tone, but they never surpass or even come close to the quirkiness of Brain Damage.

Plenty of effort, and it doesn't quite become generic to the level of something like an AI-generated band (they're starting to pop up out there), but it's hard to think you could throw this many riffs at a wall and not have at least a few more of them stick. "For Dear Life" with its choppy verse rhythms and cleaner vocals is probably the most unique feeling, but still zigs when it should have zagged and doesn't end up delivering more than a moment's curiosity. It's strange, because if you'd never heard this genre before, and queued up Black as Coal, it would seem an exemplar of thrash aesthetics, but it simply lacks the nuance of quality songwriting or standout leads, it's not nasty or aggressive enough to skirt by on extremity alone, and even the cover is bland as fuck. File this one along albums like The 5th or Feed the Extermination as middling-if-proficient German thrash that doesn't do its band's legacy much justice.

Verdict: Indifference [5.5/10]

http://www.vendetta-band.de/ 

Xentrix - Seven Words (2022)

Xentrix was another of what I'd dub the 'two and done' metal acts of the 80s to early 90s. You know, a solid debut thrash effort, a more promising sophomore (sometimes it goes in reverse), and then either they spend the majority of that latter decade in oblivion or diminishing returns. It's sad enough that the British band got a lot of its attention from a cheesy cover of Ray Parker Jr.'s theme to Ghostbusters, but they also put out some really weak records later on that all declined to resonate with me nearly as much as their first two. When they released Bury the Pain after their 2010s reunion, that was admittedly a decent offering, their best since 1990, and now Seven Words hopes to capitalize on the newfound energy and buzz, a new era 'sophomore' that could hopefully further reestablish some good will against the burgeoning scene of oldies and newbies.

It's a bunch of stuff we've heard before, of course. Initially the band had a lot of comparisons to Metallica, they were one that sort of broke out in the wake of your Master of Puppets or ...And Justice for All, but I think here "Behind the Walls of Treachery" or throughout the title track, I'm reminded a lot more of Testament, only a blander Testament which can't quite cultivate the excitement of that band on some of their more recent albums. Don't get me wrong, I don't cite this similarity as some major flaw of the band, I'm into the style, and Xentrix perform it with some maturity and dynamic ideas, but the lion's share of this record is just modern, meaty everyman's thrash which doesn't sound like it took a terribly long time to devise. They add just enough mood through the leads, and there is certainly a core Xentrix sound here which is carried forward from the early years, but if not for that scant melodic flavor, most of this would go in one ear and out the other because it's been done so much before...

This style of thrash doesn't quite have that immortal, hellish youth of the more blackened speed thrash niche, so it's really gotta go long on the songwriting, and there is just not much here to remember. Jay Walsh, who also did vocals/guitars on the previous album, does his best to sound like the earlier years, with a bit of added Chuck Billy heft, and the leads and more surgical riffs and melodies spice it up. The bass has a nice fat tone, the drums play it a little too safe, although that's in keeping with the older material I suppose. In the end, I simply would not be able to pick most of this stuff out of a lineup. They don't fuck around with the classic Xentrix formula, and so that's a plus for people who really want more of that, and I certainly banged my head to a few tunes like "My War" and closer "Anything but the Truth", but ultimately so little stands out in the crowd. If you're looking for an English response to Titans of Creation, slam it, but otherwise it had little impact on me.

Verdict: Indifference [6.5/10]

https://www.xentrix.co.uk/

Witchery - Nightside (2022)

Restless & Dead was one of my favorite metal albums of the later 90s, an absolute blitz of memorable songs performed in a legit hybrid of thrash, speed and black metal that I was completely in love with. They held it down to an extent with Dead, Hot and Ready, and have had a few reasonable full-lengths in the ensuing decades, but like their sister act The Haunted, I feel like a lot of the songwriting, particularly the riffs seem like they're just drawn from a grab bag of average fare, tucked into songs, slathered with whatever vocalist they can find at the time who sounds louder than Toxine but doesn't have the benefit of good tunes to back him up. The fire and energy have often just felt absent from the band, like it's an obligation that they just occasionally revisit when they remember there's still a fan base out there.

I'd love to report that Nightside is some return to form, but for most of its running length it's bog standard black & roll with a series of riffs that sound utterly uninspired and effortless, drawn from the good old legacy of Venom and the 'head, sometimes flowing more in a pure black/thrash direction like the "Storm of the Unborn" intro. Most of the momentum can only be provided by the drums or background choir ambiance even there, or the appreciably fat bass tone of Victor Brandt, because the rhythm guitars just don't do much for me. A squirrely, atmospheric lead, maybe, but otherwise it can become fairly vapid material. When the band is cranking out as much force as it can, in one of the singles, "Popecrusher", or the similar "Churchburner", it nearly reaches the levels of yesteryear, but then again you just keep waiting for some great breakdown or melody or something to rise above the din, and it only 'nearly' gets there every time. The vocalist, Anders Norder, who is on his third Witchery record, has the style they've always been using, a growlier spin on the black/thrash rasp, but he often comes off a little overbearing than the riffs, making them fade a bit into the undercurrent.

Production is fine, and the album is overall packed with enough heat not to feel completely phoned in, but the songs just don't stand out to memory as much as I'd want. "Crucifix and Candle" with its more moderate rocking swagger, is a slight departure, but even that doesn't throw me any surprises that would elevate the experience, and the closer, "Nightside", which alternates between slower, doomy grooves and sparse atmospheric parts with whispered guest vocals, is my favorite track here. "A Forest of Burning Coffins" has a great title but goes too over the top to provide a brutal thrasher with only a slight melodic payoff. In the end, this one just ranks between its two predecessors for me, still a crooked mile away from the inspiring works of the band's formation, but never quite sucking either, it's just there are literally dozens of black & roll, black/thrash/speed or whatever groups in this subgenre that do it all so much better nowadays. Compare this to the latest from Hellripper, or Knife, or Cruel Force, or Antichrist...Nightside keeps the Swedes on the tracks, but the engine continues to sputter along with only brief surges of quality mileage. The cover art...I get it, but kind of an eyesore.

Verdict: Indifference [6.75/10]

https://www.facebook.com/officialwitchery

Thou Art Lord - Daemoniorum EP (2022)

The Magus has really been on a tear in the last couple years, offering up fiery revivals of some of his popular bands, and even forming a new solo project which has plenty to offer the Hellenic black metal advocate. In 2022 he laid Necromantia to rest with a brilliant tribute album to the late Baron Blood which was one of my favorites of that year, even if it eschewed that project's bass-driven roots for something more overtly symphonic and accessible. There was also a new EP release for Thou Art Lord, and like the aforementioned, it takes on a slightly more polished and contemporary sound without betraying a 30 year legacy. Having Necromayhem (Sakis Tolis of Rotting Christ) and drummer J. Maelstrom back on board doesn't hurt, and the three blaze what must be the fastest trail this Greek act has ever cleared.

Three tracks, all around 2-3 minutes, totally less than 10 minutes, and just blowing the listener the fuck away with memorable melodic guitar lines, perfectly rasped vocals, and snappy drums. Sakis must have wanted to get this stuff out of his system for a long time, it's absolutely written with the Hellenic style in mind, but really faster than you'd expect from most of his stuff, almost like it was a later Rotting Christ record which someone set at the wrong speed on a turntable (especially the opener "Hades"). There's a slight atmosphere of choir on the excellent "The Black Halo", and "Fire, Chaos and Doom" has a bit of a speed metal/punk propulsion to it which is quite a cool balance against the more epic feel of the other two tracks. Production is likewise awesome, just airy and clear without sounding digital or poppy, it conducts this EP like a trio of winds howling at you from high on an ancient temple, Gods and mischief, sacrifices and fornication splayed out below your gaze and grasp. If they do follow this one up with another full length, I hope it's got a bit more dynamic variation, for that is the one flaw here, but as it stands I think you can pick these tunes up on a reissue of DV8 if you don't want the download or the 7". Exciting stuff.

Verdict: Win [7.75/10]

https://www.facebook.com/thouartlordofficial/

Septicflesh - Reconstruction EP (2023)

Reconstruction is essentially the leftovers for those of who don't have a particular version of the Modern Primitive full-length to chew on, and I happen to be one of those poor schlubs, hearing these for the first time when I had access to the digital files. As it turns out, these are purely symphonic, cinematic pieces that don't incorporate the death metal elements the band have been built upon. However, they do possess the same glance back at the great times of antiquity, perhaps more so than the heavier tracks, and the Philharmonic really gets to excel over these pieces with the freedom from accompanying the dark grooves and the extreme metal drumming. Both "Salvation" and "The 14th Part" are pretty good, especially the choirs and vocals of the former, which set up a sort of audio play, sometimes creepy, in which to lose yourself.

The final track is the pure symphonic rendition of "Coming Storm" without the aggressive instruments, and this too is quite cool to experience, like a rousing scene in a film where battle is joined or there is some great escape from disaster. The depth here is wonderful, equivalent to what you'd hear in a film or video game score, and proves again the multi-faceted talents of Septicflesh composers, and what having those broader interests can bring into their metal music. Ultimately it's not the most memorable stuff, but if you're into dark opera then it's worth hearing even if you don't like death metal. I'd definitely at least recommend that, if you haven't picked up Modern Primitive, you get the version that includes this for additional value if the price difference isn't too great. It's a fine addition and bumps up the album just a fraction in my estimation. But on its own, a well-executed if passing curiosity.

Verdict: Indifference [6.25/10]

https://www.septicflesh.com/

Septicflesh - Modern Primitive (2022)

Modern Primitive is now the sixth album in this heavily symphonic, modern phase of Septicflesh's career, which has never produced a single stinker, and yet for all the quality, I can't help but feel a little tired of the whole affair. Granted, when I want a giant orchestrated blast to the face, I will happily mend my ways and turn back to the Greek juggernaut's unparalleled commitment to this style, but I do from time to time miss the 'innocence', or maybe that's not the right word, but the more subtle mysticism of their older recordings, and wish they might find a bridge between the two. What I can say for this album is that it has a mildly more organic feel to its production values...it doesn't feel quite so large and stunning, as if you're standing in some modern museum, but this one almost has a live vibe going on that I appreciate, even though they are still collaborating with the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra.

Otherwise, it does feel a lot like a Codex Omega II. Loping grooves that occasionally shift into the harmonic melodies or dissonant chords, enormous percussion between the actual drummer, Krimh, and the orchestra timpani and other drums that crash along. The songwriting actually feels a margin more intricate than the prior album or two, but it's somewhat interchangeable do to the constant, rolling chugs. Spiros' vocals are your usual massive guttural but often affixed with some snarls to create an additional depth, and I think this more natural production also makes him sound a little more ominous. The songs often have a more sporadic and progressive feel to them, like the crazy and chaotic "Coming Storm", but that's not to say they're always interesting, just swinging more for the fences where Codex Omega might have come off a little more conservative to the strengths of the albums before it. The chemistry between tracks is still just as potent, but I have a few hear that I could escape into more than others, such as "A Desert Throne" and "Self-Eater" with their eerie or glorious atmospheric sequences. "Psychohistory" is another one that benefits a lot from the symphonics, erupting blast beats and dreamy, carried-away vibe.

I'll still give the nod to Codex Omega over this, and this one doesn't have me howling in ecstasy quite like The Great Mass, which was a simpler affair but for me the one that best exemplified this style with the catchiest tracks of the era. If you're not exhausted yet with this phase in their career, then I can't imagine this one is going to turn you off...it brings the goods, and tries to submerge them in a fresher audio space, but there might not be quite enough to expand them into new horizons. I feel like this is probably the point where the band would take a hiatus, Spiros and Sotiros and company plotting out a more nuanced and compulsory evolution forward, but for all I know we'll get another half dozen of these records with their deformed, statuesque cover beings and the same sort of grandiloquent, symphonic aesthetics that their material has transformed into exclusively. And of course I'll be there if I still draw breath, but the shine is starting to wane a bit.

Verdict: Win [7.75/10]

https://www.septicflesh.com/  

Septicflesh - Infernus Sinfonica MMXIX (2020)

It's somewhat disgusting to me that a band like Septicflesh can bring so many elements to the table and still sound so fucking professional in the live setting. If you told me this was just clips of their recent studio LPs with a little bit of live audience/ambiance sound thrown in, a few knobs tweaked to make it sound like a smidgeon messier, then I might believe you. But, no, the Greeks can travel to Mexico City, have another orchestra join them (Toluca Philharmonic) and then sound as perfect as this, just fuck off already! I kid, and in fact I'm happy to have listened through this, because as brickwalled and flawless as some of these tunes sound on their studio incarnations, the live performance of the Orchestra brings out an acoustic depth that is often missing in those more sterile enclosures... 

The crowd banter is good, Spiros sounds like he's barking out lots of rock & roll theatrics throughout the whole songs, the track selection is also quite good, visiting a lot of their recent efforts and especially some of my personal favorites off The Great Mass like "Pyramid God" and "The Vampire from Nazareth", which sound truly epic. If you're a big fan of the band's earlier catalog, they don't really bring that forward into this style, which could be interesting, as I think a lot of the elements in those tunes would lend themselves well to orchestrated modernization, but if you're into the entire Sumerian Daemons and beyond era of Septicflesh, you will be in paradise across the two discs. It's one of the better studio translations I've experienced on this kind of release, and maybe even too good if you're hoping to hear a lot of improvisations or minor changes in how they perform the material outside the safety of a studio. To even think that bands like this which used to be, for me, underground death metal bands that I could rarely even find anyone to talk about with, are now on such a level as to perform internationally with such a massive production is the most jaw-dropping thing about it...

There's also a DVD to go along with the audio, and I think this is becoming the new standard for this sort of packaging, which is a good value for the fans. Video quality is quite good here, and of course it feels just that much more magnificent when you can see the large orchestra playing as the band dances around in their strange Clive Barker-world leather costumes and the audience pumping their hands in the air, despite the serious mysticism and intensity of the bands' themes, everyone is having fun and it just goes to show that this is a band which has your back. Septicflesh doesn't fuck around, if they're going to put this together, they're going to do it right, and they did, and kudos to them for doing so. One of the best live album sets on my shelf.

Verdict: Win [8.75/10]

https://www.septicflesh.com/

Septicflesh - Codex Omega (2017)

Septicflesh have become such solid composers, and so synonymous within the symphonic death metal medium that it's hard to believe they could ever truly cock it up, and Codex Omega is another success in that category. It does falter in the same way that a lot of records of this style tend to, but in terms of capturing the Greeks' mythos and esoteric occult lyricism and themes, lending them a larger-than-life, exoticism, this is one of their better rounded efforts since Sumerian Daemons really kicked off this modern stint of their career. They do keep going back to that well, and it has become very heavily produced and for some a little too clean if you miss the hazier atmosphere of their early works, but it's hard not to put one of these 21st century 'flesh records on in your card and hear the rumbling orchestral apocalypse and not nod in admiration.

And that rhythmic battery and volume is so important to an album like Codex Omega, because it's the ticket to its grandiosity, just that modern, sweltering arrangement that washes over you like a cyclops or titan's boot on the way to its personal hot spring. Spiros continues with that bold if monotonous guttural that works so well in unison with the intense drumming, and the bass and orchestration are also highlights of its straight-to-the-dome mix. Back that all up with numerous guest vocals in tenor, alto, bass, and soprano and the fucking City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra and you've got something lush and weirdly oriental, kind of like a throwback to Celtic Frost's To Mega Therion or Into the Pandemonium but built more in line with the needs of the modern brickwalled audience. Plenty of catchy, well-arranged tunes here that balance the orchestra with the death metal groove, "Martyr" and the dreamy "Faceless Queen" come to mind, tracks that remind me of what I loved so much about an album like The Great Mass. The clean vocals cut through quite nicely where they appear, reminding me of Therion's later 90s and early 00s output before they got a little too limp.

Codex Omega is great, and there's a lot of that, but if there's one area in which it lacks, it's that like so many of these heavily symphonic-infused efforts, the guitars are often reduced to just percussive chug offs that are meant to support the orchestration and choirs rather than strike out much on their own. To be fair, there are some mournful melodies in places, a little dissonance where needed, some solid acoustics, and there are far worse offenders out there, but I just wish the rhythm guitar wouldn't always be the sacrificial lamb in these cases. It's not that it feels terribly 'missed' here, because you've got all that loud chugging, and I don't think they ever had them in mind to begin with, but I'd like it more if they could use more melodies to blend with the other non-metal elements, or at least more complex rhythm patterns for the heavier parts. Maybe a few more tremolo-picked breaks, etc. They do exist here but it does bring the album a bit short of a masterpiece. That said, I don't think much of the audience for an album like this has quite the same concern, and there are some decent evil harmonic riffs and such to sort of fill in that space. Overall, a very good effort here, not their first and probably not their last.

Verdict: Win [8.25/10]

https://www.septicflesh.com/

Varathron - The Crimson Temple (2023)

I haven't been enamored with everything Varathron has ever put out (Crowsreign, I'm looking at you), but they've always struck me as the Greek black metal band which took what it was doing most seriously, and the result is usually a work of depth that keeps me coming back for years, whether we're discussing the earlier albums or the underrated modern epics like Untrodden Corridors of Hades and their last one Patriarchs of Evil. So I know immediately without even hearing a note of The Crimson Temple that I can trust what Stefan and company will manifest into the world, and this time it might be an album that many could consider a consummate Hellenic black metal work, one that can withstand almost all scrutiny and hopefully match the timelessness of its lofty forebears.

Note, I'm not saying it's the best, or my favorite for that scene, but if you had someone who wasn't in the know inquiring about the distinction of this niche, The Crimson Temple does it all and then some. Not a 'starter kit', mind you, but an album which is probably accessible to those new to the sound. You have the incorporation of glorious metal melodies into the hammering black substrate, with rhythmic patterns that wouldn't be foreign to their fellows like Rotting Christ. Necroabyssious has just one of those iconic rasped vocals, one of the best in the medium, capable of some sneer and sustain but usually just barking along to the beats and guitars with the utmost occult class. The drumming is great, tribal and ritualistic and definitely helps enhance the more folksy moments of this album, whether they be nestled into the harder tracks like "Crypts in the Mist" or the amazingly festive intro "Ascension". Choirs and other native style instruments are non-intrusive and tastefully implemented only to the elevation of the material.

Most importantly, this is super consistent material, and while it all feels coherent in style, they can throw you for a few loops like the slightly doomier, awesomeness "To the Gods of Yore", the charging force of "Immortalis Regnum Diaboli", or the aforementioned tribal bits which take you back to the ancient times which weigh heavy on Varathron's imagination. All this with a glorious, bombastic production which does justice to all of the instrumentation without being overwrought. Are these always the catchiest guitar riffs in their catalog? Not necessarily, and I'd also add that this is hardly the darkest of their works, I feel like Untrodden Corridors of Hades takes that crown, but this is just so brazen, exotic, and magnificent busting out of my speakers that I couldn't care less. Hellenic black metal royalty retained.

Verdict: Win [8.5/10]

https://varathron.com/