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AXEGRESSOR
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Listenable (2014)
Rating: 8/10

Nothing beats a good, violent chunk of septic thrash metal, and Finland’s Axegressor bring forth the fury in huge doses. Having formed back in 2006, this quintessential thrash quartet pushes all the right buttons when it comes to their brand of fast, furious and deadly metal.

Some of us can feel a tad suffocated within certain genres, and the amount of formulaic music it produces. The thrash metal genre is one such field where I’ve felt rather bombarded by the hordes of the mundane eager to revive thrash metal’s days of glory, but occasionally a handful of bands come along that have the right attitude and ingredients, even though they are doing nothing vastly different from the rest.

Axegressor sound like a rusty mix of Slayer, Sodom, Destruction et al and they’ve stuck to this frenetic guise through all of their releases, those being 2007’s Axecution EP, followed by 2009’s full-length debut composition Command and 2011’s Next. So, there was no way on earth that these guys were going to change for this, their latest effort released via the French-based Listenable Records label.

With the vicious vocal assaults of one Johnny Nuclear Winter spearheading the Axegressor invasion, you just know that what this nine-song record lacks in originality it’s going to make up for with its propensity to kill. The riffs are sharp, fast and destructive, while the drums are a harsh barrage that ring through bloodied ears long after the pulverising closer ‘Determinator’ has rattled out its last shells.

In between the assault on battery of vocal and guitar sits the dynamic bass machine known as Aki Paulamäki, who happily plucks tissue and bone from every sinew in his quest for metal mayhem. With these instruments of torture combined Axegressor makes for one helluva mass murdering weapon when well-oiled and on song.

When the band slows to a violent chug – as with the opening ‘Freedom Illusion’ – we are treated to a fusing of tolling melody which then slips into a frothing, uncontrollable fury that brings to mind the German thrash kings who created such clangour decades previous.

In spite of the nasty nature of the tracks and Johnny’s seething cries of “Fuck you!!”, there is still enough melody amongst the seething demons to capture the listener in its oxidized net. And the theme continues through fast segments of sheer hate and violence coupled with marching strains of melody.

‘Lead Justice’ is toxic with its speed, ‘Mind Castration’ does exactly what its title suggests and ‘A Fistful Of Ignorance’ brings together an unholy union of Destruction, Sodom, Overkill and Exodus. So, if you’re a huge fan of these bands who at their unhealthiest left us exhausted as they ploughed through our homes without mercy, then you need to leap onto this machine and prepare for a supersonic rodeo that’ll reduce your arsehole to ash.

Neil Arnold

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