ALBUM REVIEW: Hellcrash – Demonic Assassinatiön

HELLCRASH are back to show no mercy with their brand of unfettered Thrash Metal, with a first wave blackened edge. After a phenomenal debut, I have very high hopes. Out via Dying Victims Productions on March 24th.

Some 80s synths serve as an introduction which feels suitable for such a record. These are pretty short lived but do the job nicely. Venomous riffs speed into life with full force as cymbals crash into a build before unleashing all hell. Immediately the energy is on fire with a hellish inferno of all things Speed Metal laying waste to what lies in their path. The maniacal vocals and vicious instruments work in unison to batter the skull with pure metallic steel while the unpolished yet massive mix feels natural and heroically old school. When Heavy Metal feels proud to be loud and demonically evil like this, you know it’s going to be a rocking time. Having played the “Okkvlthammer” single a ton but saving the rest for writing the review, my standards are set very high (plus as a huge fan of the debut too). Hammering out percussion with monstrous guitar work and clunking bass in a high-speed primitive onslaught such as this will always feel killer to my ears and Hellcrash do it damn well. If you love fearsome, dark and ripping music, then the opening tracks of this record should leave no space for doubt, this is the real deal.

Blasting on, we hear some ferocious soloing which often has a sleazier angle that you can imagine ripping out of a wall of Marshall’s at the Hammersmith Odeon to melt a sea of rabid faces. This is not to say this is one of those bands that is clearly just the guitarist showing off. The riffs, bass lines and drumming are all equally magnificent with some killer fills and little bass solo coming in here and there. Everything feels thought out and executed for maximum destruction. Vocally it’s barbaric as one could hope for too, with those Cronos-esque barks that rip through the mix with ease. Looking at the song titles like “Satan’s Crypt”, “Serpent Skullfuck” and “Graveripper” give a great indication to what this album holds; total mayhem and carnage. And it does not fail to deliver what it promises…

Hellcrash have a razor-sharp sound, there is no denying it and I think they’re only getting stronger. Indeed, this is a formidable force who made a bold first step and are continuing to grow with manic speed. Each track has this raging anthemic value that just makes you want to crank the volume and bang your skull into the fragments, so when played in tandem for the 45-minute running time a lethal force is unleashed. From the sonics to the logo and art to the video aesthetics and band photo, everything fits perfectly in its place showing these guys are a horde of total lunatics that play real Speed Metal fury. Intro and outro aside we hear 9 ferocious tracks that all stand strong with immovable force. The ravenous energy on display here is contagious and will have you raging along to the entirety or obliterated by sheer power. Hellcrash is back, better than ever.

This album crushes. Primitive force and violence played at 666rpm with no remorse. Hellcrash will slaughter you where you stand with “Demonic Assassinatiön”, an album only for the truest maniacs. So posers and falses beware, we are entering the “Abyss of Lucifer” and it’s one hell of a ride.