Deströyer 666 - Terror Abraxas EP (2003)

Terror Abraxas is a shorter release than the albums before it, an EP released through Iron Pegasus Records in Germany, which more or less continues the style expressed on Cold Steel... for an Iron Age, with a similar commitment to that raw production, although at points I think the vocals here are a little louder and the instrumentals a little less balanced. It's charmingly crude, however, so you can still make out everything well enough and nothing can detract from the hellish energy that their hybrid of black and thrash metal creates. But the best thing I can say is that all of the originals her are full-length worthy, had they written and released these alongside Cold Steel... then I think they'd have blended in with only a little rhythmic redundancy.

I really like the pacing here, with some faster, more volatile tunes to lead things off, especially "Those Who Dare Beyond" which has a great rhythm and riffs, plus I like K.K.'s barking over this one as those more burning, melodic lead-lines erupt. "Trialed by Fire" is another standout, a longer and more epic rack where they play around with some cleaner chanted vocals and bring back a lot of that Blood Fire Death/Hammerheart vibe, perhaps to an extent that they'd never gone before. I was also very impressed with the band's cover of Wendy Rule's "Prometheus". I had never heard of the woman, nor the song, I guess it's some sort of neofolk/pop from Australia, and I went back to listen to the original and really enjoyed it with her voice, the percussion, the bass, strings, etc. That said, it's just as awesome in the hands of Deströyer 666, they totally adapt it to their own style, with little walls of melody that connect it to the original. Pretty much the best tribute you can pay when doing a cover song, transforming it rather than copying it, showing how timeless its ideas are across numerous genres.

Ultimately, this is great stuff, the idea being to tide over the fans for a follow-up to Cold Steel..., but that would end up taking a lot longer than anyone probably thought.

Verdict: Win [8/10]

https://www.destroyer666.uk/