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Vice Blog

LONDON - A FIST IN THE FACE OF GOD PROVIDES YOUR MORNING UNHOLY GERMAN THRASH METAL


I wanted to go for something truly grim to reflect the neverending cold and snowfall, but the only band that would have been truly fitting were Immortal, the true masters of nebular frost. However, I think I should save Immortal for the release of their new album later in the year. Plus, the snow has long since gone.

Stylistically, they stomp similar ground as the guys in my last post, however this week's slate of self-proclaimed "Unholy Thrash Metal" comes courtesy of Germany's Nocturnal. This track is from 2008's Unholy Ancient War, a split with Sweden's Pagan Rites. I listened to this for the first time the other night after a healthy dosage of bongs and was fully convinced it was the greatest thrash I'd ever heard.

This is again the essence of thrash metal with the more traditional thrash shrieking replaced with more black metal-style vocals. The riffs are insane, nodding of course to Slayer and reminiscent even of the great Exodus. I must admit I was a bit dubious about this thrash revival at first but bands like Nocturnal, Deathhammer and Aura Noir have breathed fresh life into a genre which had reached total over-saturation after its explosion in the late 90s.

I'm not sure what the spoken German intro is all about – seems to be about cannibalism and space or something, I dunno, I don't speak German but hopefully I'm right.

Nocturnal - "Rise Of The Undead"

DYLAN HUGHES