Detritus of the Final Age

Australia’s greatest thrash export, Harlott, is ready to unleash their fourth album to the world. To date, the band has leaned hard on a straight-forward thrash style that tends to replicate Slayer’s sound more than any of the other classic thrash bands. Their third album, “Extinction”, showed some slight experimentation in song lengths and the use of dissonance. “Detritus of the Final Age” picks up exactly where they left off. It does feel like there is slightly less speed overall on this outing, but the band slowing down at times is more akin to “South of Heaven”, where the changing tempos add variety rather than stifling the album’s progress.

Fortunately, Harlott knows where they shine best, and so “As We Breach” kicks the album off with a furious pace. Beyond the typical thrashing, the song even has a brief black metal section towards the end, with blastbeats and tremolo picking aplenty. The rest of the song intertwines gallops with speedy downpicking. Harlott is wiser than to leave the coolest song first, though; the very next track, “Idol Minded”, is even faster! This is definitely the most aggressive song on the record, and much like songs such as “Ballistic” and “Violent Conspirator” before it, the quick thrashing is a major highlight for the album. “Prime Evil” is another one that, at times, challenges the limits of the picking hand.

Playing these lightning-quick riffs can tend to get muddy under weaker productions, but “Detritus of the Final Age” is exactly how a thrash album should sound. It has a crystal-clear guitar sound that makes each riff perfectly discernable. Almost as if by magic, the guitars get heavier and more crushing in the slower moments. “Bring On The War” is the band’s attempt at bashing your skull in with a mid-paced tune, and though it definitely might turn some off who would prefer a purer thrash sound, it helps show some progression in Harlott’s sound. There are some harmonies in the later part of the track that would make Metallica proud, and the song does eventually explode in the second half.

The Metallica comparisons don’t end there. One of the lengthier songs, “Nemesis”, also has some melodic sections that recall more laid-back instrumentals like “Orion” or “To Live Is To Die”. One glance at the track-list suggests that the album might be a bit of a roller-coaster with all of the different song lengths, but truthfully, there are no weak links. The song structures tend to be more intricate than what the band has done in the past, even in instances where there are obvious choruses.

The most puzzling aspect of Harlott at this point is why they aren’t bigger. With the backing of Metal Blade, and the quality to match any of their peers, hopefully this is the album to catapult Harlott to new heights. “Detritus of the Final Age” contains everything that makes thrash metal great. Whether you like blistering solos, angry vocals, top-tier musicianship, or even some melody, this album has it all, so it’s time to get on board if you’ve been missing out!

Originally written for Skull Fracturing Metal
https://skullfracturingmetal.com/