HARLOTT
Extinction
Metal Blade (2017)
Rating: 7.5/10
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Crunching, bashing and Slayerizing their way from Melbourne, Australia comes fresh-faced thrash quartet Harlott; the sort of energetic, fast-paced foursome I wouldn’t have been surprised to have seen during the big thrash renaissance a decade or so ago.
Some may argue that Harlott have missed the boat somewhat, but ignore the wheres, whys and whats in regards to trends and simply focus on the fact that Extinction is the third opus from this unruly gang; a band rather generic – like most – in style, but still capable of ripping out throats and creating solid, thrashing melodies.
In this day and age it’s nigh on impossible to be original, and after the last 15-20 years we’ve seen hordes of screaming young upstarts bellowing and belching up derivative thrash designs all based around the frameworks originally constructed by the likes of Slayer, Metallica, Megadeth, Exodus in the 80s.
Within that burgeoning pack of ravenous revivalists we’ve still been able to pick out handfuls of promising acts – the likes of Vektor springing to mind – but what Harlott have done is opt for that early Evile style of menace; an aggressive, serious thrash assault with a strong Slayer influence right down to the salivating vocal sneers and chops of Andrew Hudson. There’s nothing original about the rasps at all, but they complement the sturdy music well – and the music is hefty, meaty mix of standard thrash-by-numbers pulverisations mixed with stomping segments of chugging melody.
Yes, speed plays a major part right from the off with the likes of the title track and ‘First World Solutions’; the combo marrying together a ‘Reign In Blood’ (Slayer) style of rapid threat with some very nice slower passages, and this is where the band shows its promise. This is catchy stuff, consisting of the hammering drums of Tim Joyce, the full-throttle bass rumbles of Tom Richards and the dual guitar attack of Hudson and Ryan Butler.
The likes of Exodus, Dark Angel and Kreator all spring to mind throughout, but they’ll never escape the Slayer tag. The boys are no doubt aware of their mimicry, after all tracks such as ‘The Penitent’ absolutely reek of Tom Araya and company, reminding one of Slayer’s less than favourable ‘Bitter Peace’ – it’s frantic but ever so tight gnarly thrash punctuated by some catchy leads and that ever present drum avalanche.
‘No Past’ takes no prisoners either. Again, the Slayer comparisons will no doubt emerge, and there’s plenty of Bay Area-styled charisma too as with the crunchy jars of ‘Conflict Revelation’ which also boasts a Teutonic angle too.
Elsewhere, we’re treated to the dark, pensive and simmering ‘And Darkness Brings The Light’, which builds in suspenseful fashion into epic realms. ‘Final Weapon’, however, goes straight for the throat – a blinding tumultuous attack of wailing leads and aggressive percussion all frothed over by Hudson’s Aaraya-esque spits. Again, it’s still very catchy thrash metal leading us to the final outburst in the form of ‘Epitaph’ – another very much “back to type” thrash expression which brings to an end a spirited if somewhat generic extreme metal experience. However, it’s not one I’m ever bored by in spite of its overwhelming influences. Instead, Extinction is not only an improvement on the band’s last opus Proliferation (2015), but it stands as testament as to how a band of today – clearly mirroring the past – can achieve some sense of talent and standing even while completely lacking any sort of originality.
Thrash metal has been back in fashion for a few years now and I admire Harlott for wearing their influences on their sleeve, sticking to their guns and, above all, still being able to churn out a rock-solid record.
Neil Arnold
