Whipstriker - Merciless Artillery

Band: Whipstriker
Title: Merciless Artillery
Label: Hells Headbangers Records
Release Date: 9 March 2018
Country: Brazil

Here's another Whipstriker release. 10 years in the game and full length Album No.4 (among 29 other singles/eps) from these maniacs of Brazilian Speed/Thrash Metal. Adorned with a splendid Rok/Sadistik Ex inspired cover art, it is blatantly clear just what this is all about! Skull crushing head removal. Yep, Merciless Artillery pretty much does what it says on the can!
Released in the latter part of 2017, we now see Merciless Artillery gain a wider distribution release via the bands new label in Hells Headbangers Records. Good work too, as this has massive appeal to those looking for straight down the line, no frills speed metal attack! If you are familiar with this band at all you certainly won't be disappointed in what you hear. In fact, this is possibly the band strongest work to date. Having said that, musically this is not a great leap from their earlier work, it's just that they've captured a particular vibe on this album that works on a different, more responsive level.
Newcomers? Well, think equal parts old school Venom/Motorhead meets the filthy crusty end of Hellhammer/Sodom inspired riffage. Dirty, raging speed metal anthems that arrive, inflict maximum damage and then leave you drained before you realize the album is over! Incredibly, and most surprisingly, embedded within this maelstrom of white noise and relentless double kick battering is some quite tasteful and, dare I suggest it, melodic lead work that adds a new(er) dimension to Whipstrikers sound. Vocally, Whip himself reminds me a whole lot of Cronos (Venom) with his harsh, rough as guts delivery suiting their style perfectly. Song wise, everything is on a par with everything else - pure, frenetic speed induced mayhem that asks nothing more from you than to bang thy head! Merciless Artillery has a wicked spirit about it and despite its absolute familiarity, one can't help but be enveloped in its atmosphere. No one expects high-brow convoluted compositions here...as stated, it does what it says on the can. You know what you're getting and as far as Whipstriker is concerned, that is good enough indeed.
If fast, loud filthy speed metal riffage is your go-to, then Merciless Artillery is begging for your attention. No pretentiousness here folks...this has spirit, this has balls. It is absolutely Metal in every way!  8/10 By KMaN

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Hammr "Unholy Destruction"

Band: Hammr
Title: Unholy Destruction
Label: Hells Headbangers Records
Release Date: 23 February 2018
Country: USA


Cleveland, Ohio’s HAMMR is a one-man band, with J.Hammer playing all instruments and
performing the vocals. The band is active since 2015 under this name. Prior to that (2013- 2015) the band existed as Schizoid Hammer. HAMMR’s first self-titled EP has been released in 2015 and now the J.Hammer furiously pulls out of his blackened sleeve the hot debut album Unholy destruction. The classic black/speed/thrash/heavy from the early 80's really reincarnated currently in the blackened speed/thrash, and more and more bands play around these structures. I was looking
very much to this release since I first heard a piece of it. The influences here are clear – from
early Bathory to Celtic Frost, to Discharge to Motorhead to Venom to Slayer to etc…In the
best contemporary traditions of the genre, it is single-man band too.
With 11 tracks and 31 minutes in total running time, this album can power dozens of power
plants and destroy double of them. There are so much energy and fire, galloping all the time.
The mixture between (a lot of) blackened speed, thrash, punk, D-beats and blackened vocals
is excellent. The album really starts and finishes just in a blink of an eye, but from another hand
this just the weak point to certain extend – all anthems - Satanic raid, Under black command,
Desecrator, Sadistic poison, Death reign, Unholy destruction…just come and go to reach the
Final sacrifice. At the end though everything somehow sounds similar all through the way
from the beginning till closing down, merging into one big whole. Yes, it is neck-breaking,
pit-fighting, blood-pumping out hot as hell debut album. I yearned to listen to it over and over
again, but sometimes I felt I’ve heard it all already at its half. 8.5/10 By Count Vlad


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Communion "The Communion" + "At The Announcement"

Band: Communion
Title: The Communion + At The Announcement
Label: Hells Headbangers Records
Release Date: 26 January 2018
Country: Chile

Communion is a black metal band, born in the hell’s fire-hot nights of Santiago, Chile. With 10 years of stubborn devotion and hard work, Communion have reached their cult status among the South-American metal legions. Hells Headbangers set 26 January 2018 to be a memorable date. Two of the band’s albums have been simultaneously released on CD, vinyl and cassette. Their brand new effort “The Communion" along with the debut album - “At the Announcement” (released by Sinister Flame but distributed by Hells Headbangers).
First of all couple of words about the “At The Announcement”. The album was recorded from September 2014 to August 2017. The album contains 11 tracks. The total length of the album is just almost 28 min. With three intros inside, all songs are surprisingly short, especially compared to other contemporary acts. The tracks are blasting and hitting like firepower bullets offering servitude to the Dark one and bows to his secret rites. The album is rawer in comparison to their other newer recording. It suggests more dungeon sounding, ancient fury and more traditional influences (by some of the most distinguished artists in the genre dating from the 80s).
From other hand "The communion" is more confident and it is obvious that the band managed to master the wildfire. The album was recorded from January to August 2017. It contains 9 songs (two intros inside) with total time of 33 minutes of excitement. Definitely the Communion has found their signature sound as a band with this one on their way to glorify the occult forces, chaos and the great black beyond. Embracing the cruelty’s flames, the album really can be listened at one breath. It is explosive, carrying still some of classic roots inside along with the excellent contemporary compositions of fire worship and atheism crush. Being not completely sure, but a reference to the Massive Cauldron of Chaos could be a starting point for a direction. With both releases at once, the band irons their spells for a solid start of the year, offering witching fireworks for the die-hard community on South-American black metal. 7.5/10 By Count Vlad

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Druid Lord "Grotesque Offerings"

Band: Druid Lord

Title: Grotesque Offerings

Label: Hells Headbangers

Release Date: January 19, 2018

Country: United States

Florida death/doom outfit Druid Lord have returned with their sophomore full-length, Grotesque Offerings. It's been eight years since their debut, Hymns for the Wicked, was released, and the band brings their horror-themed stylings home for an enjoyable slice of classic sounding death/doom. Thick guitar production, coupled with solid songwriting, stand as the highlight features of the album. The hardest part of anything on doom territory is keeping the attention of the listener, and Druid Lord manage to do so by not dwelling too long on one tempo. The speeds vary throughout each track between the slower, dirge-y sections and the builds that seem to rely more on a driven, mid-tempo feel. There are even plenty of faster sections to get the listener's head banging a bit. The solos feel well-placed and are executed with precision. One of the biggest stand-out features of the album was the use of the B-horror movie aesthetic; the whole album feels like classic gore flick. The touches of organ-replicating synths really add a nice touch of atmosphere without taking over the spotlight from the backbone of the band. Overall Grotesque Offerings is a solid effort from Druid Lord, and I hope they don't take eight years to release a follow-up! (7/10) By d00mfr00g

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Vaultwraith "Death is Proof of Satan’s Power"

Band: Vaultwraith
Title: Death is Proof of Satan’s Power
Label: Hells Headbangers Records
Release Date: October 31, 2017
Country: USA

In 2006, when Dissection releases the much-anticipated Reinkaos, fans were a bit disappointed in the change in direction that the notorious Jon Nödtveidt had taken the band. To be completely fair, nothing could meet the fans expectations after a twelve year wait for a follow-up to Storm of the Lights Bane. In retrospect, Reinkaos is actually a solid record, relying more on the mid-tempo grooves of hard rock and traditional heavy metal than the blazing blast beats and shredding of The Somberlain or Storm of the Lights Bane. Eleven years later, enter Springfield, Missouri’s Vaultwraith. While still a black metal record, the album takes more of a Reinkaos approach, relying on a mid-tempo feel to espouse their devotion to Satan, black magic, and the occult. The band makes use of synths, but they never overpower the other instruments, content to stay in the background, adding a mysterious under layer of fog to the atmosphere of the record. Overall, the songs feel well written, highlights being the anthemic “Ravaged in the Crimson Mist”, the Mercyful Fate style riffing on “Night Ride Through the Black Wood”, the and, surprisingly, the slowest track on the album, “Manifest at Midnight”. The album is not without issues, however. The closing track, “Skeltonized Malediction” seems to meander aimlessly and really drags the record out instead of closing it on a memorable note. Production-wise, while not bad per se, feels overly digital and could benefit from less processing of the guitar sound and especially the drum tones. It’s a record I feel I’ll mostly be revisiting in the future in pieces, rather than a whole work. Nevertheless, Death is Proof of Satan’s Power is a solid debut from Vaultwraith and if they can overcome the production issues I will eagerly await their next material. 6.5/10 By d00mfr0gg

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