Thrash Metal
MDD Records
Release Date – April 11th 2024
Line Up:
Berne – Vocals
Chriss – Guitar
Nodeng – Bass
Phil – Drums
Guest – Philly Byrne Vocals Track 8
Tracklist:
1 – Implosion Of The Sun
2 – King Of Rats
3 – Maze Of The Mind
4 – Knockout In The First Round
5 – The Cords Of Death
6 – Thou Shalt Not Kill
7 – Slaves To The Virtual God
8 – Granville’s Hammer
9 – ….To The Gallows
10 – Pleasures Of The Hangman
11 – Border Patrol
12 – Goliath’s Revenge
Battlecreek hails from Bavaria, Germany, and was formed back in 2004. Since then, they have released a demo and two previous full-length albums. They draw inspiration from both the German thrash sound and the Bay Area thrash scene.
The inspiration is blatantly obvious on the opener, ‘Implosion Of The Sun,’ which is equal parts Death Angel and Tankard as it rattles along at a fair old clip. ‘King Of Rats’ has an Anthrax groove, with singer Berne’s shouty vocals upping the aggression, before the banging title track gives us shades of Slayer. It punches, spits, slaps, and kicks, then the guitar solo, although brief, peels the paint from the ceiling. ‘Knockout In The First Round’ rains a hail of riffage on your ass as Berne shouts you down and drummer Phil keeps you against the ropes with a proper pounding.
We get an acoustic instrumental, ‘The Cords Of Death,’ with rain pouring in the background before the brutal ‘Thou Shalt Not Kill,’ which leads to the groovy ‘Slaves To A Virtual God,’ led by Nodeng’s rubbery bassline and Chriss’ jagged guitar licks. ‘Granville’s Hammer’ is a rabid thrasher with help from Gama Bomb’s Philly Byrne, then we get another acoustic interlude, ‘…To The Gallows,’ before ‘Pleasures Of The Hangman’ brings a whole heap of chug and fist-pumping. ‘Border Patrol’ eases in with Phil’s double kick before Chriss weaves a spidery riff around Nodeng’s bass – Berne gives us a scream, and they’re off on a hardcore banger.
The acoustic comes out on the final instrumental cut, ‘Goliath’s Revenge,’ which develops into some tri-tone devil calling, then into a chuggy groove and some wicked axework from Chriss.
Yes, I’ll be checking these guys out further on the strength of this release. The inspirations are worn proudly on their sleeves, but they do make the sound their own. Like thrash? You’ll like this.
Written by: Smudge
Ratings: 8/10
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