In Satan We Trust

Total Slayer worship. To put it more precisely, total "Hell Awaits" worship. The Italians of Baphomet's Blood offer an opener whose first instrumental part reveals its influence in a blatantly obvious manner. One might call it rip-off, copy, homage - I describe this beginning with the term "ingenious". Admittedly, "Hell Awaits" is my sonic paradise, the unreachable monument of a time gone by. However, I am sure that the vast majority of thrash fans will also immediately fall in love with the here presented album, as soon as the first guitar sounds show up. And by the way, the part after the intro is also heading for devastation. It is pointless arguing whether this is speed metal or thrash. As you know, the boundaries between these genres are often blurry. Anyway, Baphomet's Blood have written a fascinating opener, titanic and intense, straight and catchy.

But Baphomet's Blood are no Slayer clones. Unlike their compatriots of Insane, who released the Italian version of "Show No Mercy", the here presented band offers diverse inspirations. Ingenious riffs like the bolts throwing main riff of "Underground Demons" have been offered hundreds of times before, but Baphomet's Blood perform them with enthusiasm. Authentic and infected by the most intense metal virus, they show their entire force in a spirited manner. The exhibited attitude of the four demons borders on parody, but they definitely do not intend to caricature the genre. This is not Spinal Tap, these ruffians take their music very seriously. That's fine. Men and women of conviction are always welcome.

Baphomet's Blood rely on the abilities of their only songwriter. A man with the empathetic pseudonym Necrovomiterror has composed the songs and he seems to be of the opinion that the world needs more straight up-tempo tracks with efficient riffs. I agree. One finds the wildest moments of Motörhead as well as some Bulldozer vibes ("Whiskey Rocker"). Okay, I admit that almost every Italian band reminds me of Bulldozer, only Necrodeath mark an exception. Nevertheless, our unwashed friend Necrovomiterror has created a homogeneous full-length and the highly original cover version works as well. Thank God, it is not the fiftieth variation of "Bomber" or "13 Candles", but a rocking underground hit from Hungary with - and this is a novelty in this context - English lyrics. All in all, I am impressed by Necro's fine music taste and his compositional clarity. This guy does not belong to the best vocalists in the metal universe, but his boozy voice fits the here presented songs. Each of them impresses by its robustness and inner strength. Fickle guitars or slack rhythms is given no place. Thus, all eight songs make me smile contently and, among other things, I recommend to experience how galloping background riffs form an alliance with the solo guitar ("Infernal Overdrive").

Before you check the further, equally sophisticated, names of the further band members in the line-up section, let me talk about the production. Dense and dirty, neither amateurish nor polished, it screams "make way for Baphomet's Blood". I hate to obey, but in the case of a competent domina or bands such as the here presented I make an exception. (Well, the first case only exists in theory.) The greatest advantage of the Italians is that the aforementioned homogeneity of the album is not based on an unvarying song approach, but on the filthy mentality of the four-piece. From this follows that the combination of thrash, speed and dirty traditional metal works in a very convincing way. Of course, to ask for innovation would be stupid. Just take a look at the cover motif. Guess we all have seen it before a lot of times. The lyrics also fail to deliver new aspects ("Pounding iron, thrashing attack, metallic sparks, fast as a shark" or, even better, "Legions of Satan are looking for souls, speed metal destroys the book of lies"). Yet to be innovative is no value in itself. Integrity beats innovation.