ALBUM REVIEW: Körgull The Exterminator – Sharpen Your Spikes

Spanish Black-Thrash Metal maniacs KÖRGULL THE EXTERMINATOR are back with their fifth album of high-speed debauchery. Out now via Xtreem Music.

Acoustic guitars start the album with a gorgeously tranquil and ancient vibe, alongside sampling to complete the preface to medieval mayhem. Ripping riffs and hammered drums launch a battalion of carnage forth with no remorse. Devilish vocals meet the melodically furious extremity to accentuate the blasphemous music excellently, this is clearly going to be an intense, killer slab of Black-Thrash might. Tight riffing and impactful drum fills blast on with relentlessly energetic performances from the entire band that has that contagious spirit that is impossible not to be enchanted by. Visceral and chaotic solos work beautifully with the rhythmic battery to lay even more waste to all who dare spin this vicious tome of Extreme Metal brutality. With a precision to the frenzied assault, there is no way one could lose their focus once beginning.

Although a fairly primal style of production is used along with rather simple ideas, the passionate fury that delivers the music is undeniable and far superior to something of sterile technical convictions. This is Heavy Metal, the old school way with dangerously sharp musicianship and a stern attitude as to who the right listener might be. Wimps and posers are clearly not wanted on this devastating record that is clearly intended for underground maniacs only. With the venomous energy that bands like Nifelheim, Deathhammer and Whipstriker have offered consistently, there is certainly room for Körgull The Exterminator to join the ranks of bands still flying the Black-Thrash flag with a puritanically old school approach. Aside from this Black-Thrash madness, we do see some very classic Heavy Metal elements from the likes of Mercyful Fate to Voivod appearing in the depths of the musical fury.

Hellish soundscapes of morbid samples and eerie breaks occasionally halt the momentum to ramp of the weirdness while the barrelling aggression is never far away to stampede you with monolithic walls of 80s riffs, blastbeats and screeched howls. At around 45 minutes, this is fairly long for the style, but is kept in the high-octane category (as opposed to drawn out, lame and dull) due to stripping back anything that could be deemed pretentious nonsense for a focal and unforgiving, uncompromising slab of barbaric savagery. Do not expect anything modern on this release, this feels like the soundtrack to a motorbike ride through the chasms of hell, the way bands used to sound in the late 80s, especially in South America.

Ripping, Black-Thrash chaos the way it was supposed to be. These guys have unleashed a beastly slab of Metal that may not be reinventing the wheel, but delivers passionate fury with nothing held back. A commendable record that is certainly deserving of your time. -8/10