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ACID MASS
Agonizer

Morbid And Miserable / Bonepick (2023)
Rating: 8/10

Multi-instrumentalist Ben Ricketts is the man behind Ohio’s Acid Mass and over the last year has spewed forth four singles and an EP (Lust For Violence). Agonizer is the debut full-length, a short ten-track affair that fuses thrash, speed and black metal resulting in a rather blistering and violent tirade.

Only one track (‘Shadow Moses’) runs over the three minute mark, the rest are snappy onslaughts heavily influenced by the South American underground scene along with the Teutonic acts Sodom and Destruction who formed the first waves of black thrash. The vocals are slightly buried in the mix but this adds to the primeval air, while the guitars act as wiry walls of scowling intensity. It’s rampant material to contend with, and for me it’s all about the scathing axe work as tight, leathery riffs give way to spiralling solos which penetrate the blackness.

There is a real energy here, made all the more appealing with some of the rawer distortion levels. A track like ‘Christ Crusher’ sounds as if it could have been plucked from an old Speed Kills compilation as I get Bulldozer vibes from the nasty grooves. ‘Torture Rack’ has a more modern Slayer sort of vibe with the cutting tone, and the same goes for ‘Blood In The Air’.

Agonizer is a devilish debut outing that should appeal to anyone who likes to have their ears raked by scorching, vicious underground thrash.

Neil Arnold

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