EP REVIEW: Kishi – Khaos – Mongrel Records


 

Be honest. If you were one question away from winning the jackpot on a TV quiz show and the smug, over-smiley host asked you, “what is the capital of Angola?”, would you really be going home with a massive cheque or just left stood there sullen and regretful, wishing you’d paid more attention in Geography class?

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EP REVIEW: Bloodletter – Malignancy


 

A re-recording of their independently released 2014 EP, Illinois-based thrashers Bloodletter unleash Malignancy (Wise Blood Records) once again, but this time with a leaner production, sharper guitars, and tighter, more improved performances.Continue reading


EP REVIEW: Plague Years – All Will Suffer


Formed in 2016, Detroit death-thrashers Plague Years follow up 2020’s highly impressive full length debut album Circle of Darkness with rampaging four tracker All Will Suffer (MNRK Heavy).Continue reading


EP REVIEW: Malefic Throne – Malefic Throne


Formed last year, Malefic Throne finds Morbid Angel frontman Steve Tucker joining forces with former Angelcorpse guitarist Gene Palubicki and drummer John Longstreth (also of Origin and Hate Eternal), the trio producing an eponymously titled four track EP (released via Hells Headbangers) of finest quality death metal.

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EP REVIEW: High Command – Everlasting Torment


Formed in Worcester, Massachusetts in 2016, five-piece thrash outfit High Command follow up their 2017 debut full length Beyond the Wall of Desolation with digitally released single Everlasting Torment (both Southern Lord).Continue reading


EP REVIEW: Black Talon – Existential


Formed in 2010, Edinburgh thrashers Black Talon follow up their 2015 debut Endless Realities (Wasted State Records) with independently released five-track EP Existential. Sounding like a modern Scottish version of the 1980s Bay Area, this short release is replete with riffs and melodies similar to the likes of Forbidden, Testament and Dark Angel with vocals owing a debt to Vio-Lence and UK thrashmonkeys Acid Reign.Continue reading


Archangel A.D. – Warband


Formed in 2015 by guitarist Matthew Karr and drummer Edward Vera, Texan thrashers Archangel A.D. started out as “Archangel”, covering tracks by Judas Priest and Metallica. After a change in personnel (one of several, in fact), they began to compose original songs and added the A.D. suffix to their name in order to avoid possible legal entanglements with any other existing acts of the same name.Continue reading


Davie Allan/Joel Grind – Split EP


Davie Allan Joel Grind - Split EP cover ghostcultmag

For those of you who are unaware (and I dare say there will be a few), Davie Allan is a Californian guitarist probably best known for his work on a variety of biker movies in the 1960s. Taking the traditional surf guitar sound, he twisted it into something entirely different using the newly invented Fuzzbox. Allan’s fuzzed up guitar tracks have been used in many films over the years, most recently in Quentin Tarantino‘s Inglourious Basterds.

Joel Grind, on the other hand, comes from a completely different arena. His band Toxic Holocaust have been tearing up the Thrash scene since their inception in 1999. Their (or rather his, as Grind played all the instruments on the band’s first few releases himself) brand of Punk/Thrash relying more on creating sweaty, violent carnage in the moshpit rather than any kind of bizzaro Surf Rock atmosphere. Grind is no stranger to his music being used on soundtracks either though, having ‘Bitch’ from ‘Conjure and Command’ (Relapse) blasting out during a car chase in a Season 5 episode of Sons of Anarchy.

An entirely instrumental affair, this split four track EP (Relapse) consists of some seriously dirty hard rockin’ surf music with a greasy ’60s/early ’70s vibe. From the moment the motorbikes cease their revving at the beginning of Allan’s opening track ‘Recycled Too’ you are immediately thrust into a world of psychedelic, violent biker movies like Devil’s Angels, The Wild Angels or even Werewolves on Wheels where Hell’s Angels smoke weed, drop acid, have hairy, leathery sex, and beat up anyone who looks at them in a funny way. And all this happily continues with his second track ‘Buzz Saw Effect’.

Unsurprisingly, Grind’s contribution is somewhat heavier than Allan’s. ‘Peacekeeper’ kicks off his side of the disc enthusiastically, while second cut ‘The Invisible Landscape’ is driven by a more traditional clean surf guitar tone. Also, being instrumental tracks only, people who aren’t familiar with, or don’t usually care for, Grind’s Dalek-receiving-a-proctological-exam vocals don’t have to worry here.

If Rob Zombie directed a movie about Hell’s Angels on acid fighting a gang of machine gun wielding Go-Go dancers on the back roads of Hell, then this would absolutely be the soundtrack.

8.0/10

GARY ALCOCK

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