Satan's Boundaries Unchained

First of all, I admit that the cover artwork looks like an awkward advertising poster for an idiotic Halloween party or something like that. (And believe me, I am an expert for awkwardness. Just have a look at my syntax.) As a margin, I am still undecided whether the yellow ball is the sun or a Swiss cheese without holes. Due to my cluelessness in respect of the cover, I would like to turn to the music immediately. To put it in a nutshell: Ketzer's debut is a gargantuan piece of devilish thrash metal and probably the best German black thrash debut of all times.

Already the intro offers a great melody line. Woeful guitars announce the coming of the anti-Christian black thrash prophets. They preach the dogmas of darkness and cruelty. While combining vehemence with structure, they are never at risk to neglect the necessary amount of melodies. Fantastic melodies! The cascading guitars at the end of the title track as well as the combination of drilling riffs and pleading guitar tones at the beginning of "Crushing the Holy" represent just two of many examples. During the total playing time of "Satan's Boundaries Unchained", the formation celebrates an orgy of sustainable riffs. The album has nothing in common with this crude kind of "funny" black thrashers, that enjoy to present primitively designed numbers. Ketzer must be taken seriously and their songs do not lack of creative intelligence.

With respect to the music, it is obvious that Ketzer cannot be compared with the well-known British war machine called Bolt Thrower. Nevertheless, there exists a parallel between these bands. Due to their maximum of homogeneity, Bolt Thrower albums are rather a monolithic monument than a collection of single songs. The debut of Ketzer has the same effect, not at least because of the fact that some of the songs flow into each other. But do not confuse the here described type of homogeneity with a lack of different song patterns. Each and every song is highly exciting. In terms of dynamic compositions, the band has the hang of it. Ketzer do not appear as debutants. The guys have already reached a phenomenally high degree of musicianship with the consequence that their compositions do not lack of breaks, tempo changes and various riffs. No doubt, especially the pinpoint riffs in combination with the sometimes almost stubbornly galloping guitar lines make the ambitious formation stand out from the broad mass of its competitors. Although I am a fan of the black and thrash symbiosis in general, I admit that infectious tracks like the excellent "The Fire to Conquer the World" are hard to find in the whole wide cosmos of this bastard genre.

But that is not all. The music impresses with a further amazing feature, because Ketzer sound absolutely independent. Their approach is not based on that of the role models like Desaster. In comparison with their persevering German compatriots, Ketzer's sound is less raw. Especially the guitars do not deliver the maximum brutality. Nevertheless, the debutants create a dense atmosphere without lacking determination, motivation or aggressiveness. Generally speaking, this is either no low budget production or they made the best of their limited financial means. From my point of view, "Satan's Boundaries Unchained" sounds simply perfect.

If your only intention is to look for the fly in the ointment, you will be happy that the lyrics do not shine with unique features. Of course, we have heard lines like "The symbol of the satanic cult / Brings you to your knees / Dying through the inverted cross / You'll never rest in peace" a thousand times before. Anyway, I understand these lyrics as a commitment to the genre and I cannot say that they cause any damage. I am therefore sorry to inform you that Ketzer's first full-length is an almost perfect exhibit in order to show the splendour of black thrash. I would like to recommend you my personal highlights, but they change with every run. Perhaps this is the highest praise for an album and its creators.