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RAPTURE
Malevolent Demise Incarnation

FDA (2021)
Rating: 9/10

Snappy thrash is the order of the day here from the unimaginatively named Rapture who hail from Athens, Greece. Malevolent Demise Incarnation may not make much sense to me as a title for a record, but musically it’s a blazing assault on the senses that I recommend to anyone that likes volatile thrash metal.

I reviewed the bands 2019 opus Paroxysm Of Hatred and loved it, and so I’ve been eagerly awaiting the return of this combo which brings dollops of raging death metal to their nasty, ripping framework of ferocity.

As expected, this eight track affair is as tight as a ducks arse, while the vocals of Apostolos Papadimitriou are just sonic, rasping yaps of terror that frenziedly zip along in dehydrated fashion alongside the equally thrifty death-thrash assault.

The opening title track is just brilliant; a vicious yet melodiously fast shark attack to the limbs with its blazing percussion and a hostile bass explosion that rattles the cranium.

I do advise taking water breaks in-between tracks just to hydrate, because this is one sadistic, froth-inducing battering ram that brings to mind all manner of acts ranging from Dark Angel to Slayer, and Demolition Hammer to deathlier aspects. But it’s the sheer belligerence and speed which obliterates the ears, and the guitars are on point whether it’s a hideous, razor riff or a wildly spiralling solo.

’Inanimate Frigidity’ is just a hyperactive bout of flailing aggression, and yet the clan manages to keep within its tight framework of death-thrash whereby unexpected cold steel melodies force their way through wiry mazes of polluted hostility. Meanwhile, ‘Predatory Menace’ is dynamic, scathing and toxic as the percussion rattles alongside a bass that at any moment could remove the fingers of its player Stamatis Petrou.

Rapture is a clever outfit, cherry-picking influences from the likes of, say, Kreator, Sadus and Razor, but mixing them with deathlier insanity. Flecks of Morbid Angel merge with speedier passages of utter torment, and complexity drives hard into tracks such as ‘I Am Become Death’ causing panic and palpitations.

Elsewhere, ‘Herald Of Defiance’ spits with hate, unflinching in its aggression and speed as the guitars stab and slash, while the hideously titled ‘Birthrape Leftovers, Praising The Maggots’ begins like some lost Slayer cut, but brings a building percussive militance before the drums kick with such a force, and then we’re back to that full throttle relentless jabbing.

Album closer ‘Requiem For A Woeful Dynasty (Memento Mori)’ spares us for a few seconds with its simmering introductory wail, but then we are force fed more mesh and mangled metal as Rapture cements its place into the annals of no nonsense thrash battery.

These Greek warriors have no time to smile. They growl, snarl and utterly annihilate with their sickening brand of destructive bludgeoning to the point that no words can actually express their spiteful attack. Just buy the damn record and suffer at its crushing grip.

Neil Arnold

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