Temple of Mystery

I couldn’t possibly believe that I’ll ever like a band named Cockroach or any other insect-titled group. But, surprises do happen, don’t they? Cockroach and their third album “Temple Of Mystery” stand for everything I like in thrash metal: fast songs, killer riffs and – fun!

The press material said that this was old school thrash metal. DAMN RIGHT! Cockroach took all the good elements from the 80s Bay Area and German thrash bands and made a blend that should make this band a big hit amongst the thrashing audience. Did I forget to mention that Cockroach is a German band? Well, I guess most of you could’ve predicted that since 80% of all good thrash bands today come from that country. I also mentioned this fact intentionally because they remind me of their countrymen Delirious and that is one of the hottest thrash acts to emerge in the past years. Whatever Delirious did on their album “Designed By Violence”, Cockroach does it equally good with the same amount of strength, conviction and energy.

What separates this group from the rest of the bunch is their sense of humor. I mean, how crazy (positively) do you have to be to write a song “Total Gym” making a big prank with that exercise machine? They also wrote an ode to themselves “Cockroach” that speaks about reasons for forming the band. Maybe some other band should’ve done that ‘cause 11 years of thrashing deserves recognition. In this song they managed to write a genuine Sodom tune even better than Sodom itself has done lately. The closer “Tekilla” sounds like it jumped out of some Tankard album, but then again it isn’t a song about beer.

I don’t want to say anything more. If you like thrash metal at all, this album is a MUST!