Sanctify the Darkness

Discovering a band at the latest release in a fairly sizable discography carries a certain perspective that is often lost on those who do the reverse. The frog who sits in a pot of water that becomes gradually hotter is not necessarily aware of the change going on, whereas one that is first burned by a scalding splash and comes back later to find the water slightly more tolerable has a more pronounced experience. Experiencing a highly derivative yet passionate retro-thrash band by this method offers a very unique blend of extremity and nuance, particularly insofar as Greece’s own Suicidal Angels go, where a highly impressive and mildly varied set of blistering tributes to Slayer, Kreator and Sodom make way for something a bit less distinctive from its source influences.

While recent output couldn’t be labeled as a direct stylistic throwback to merely one or two bands, sophomore effort “Sanctify The Darkness” wanders very dangerously close to that area. It has all the trappings of a tribute album comprised of original works, and ultimately sounds like a cover band that is just starting to wean itself off of outright quoting their favorite band(s). The presentation sees the band outright avoiding anything of notable length, which is more a staple of mid 80s Sodom and “Reign In Blood” era Slayer than the other boasted influences in the band’s preferred list, and keeps things largely limited to a neck-wrenching frenzy of rapid paced galloping riffs and a sub-machine gun blare out of the drums. It’s an effective formula that will keep an appetite for mindless destruction sated the way drawing water from the same well does, but the ritualistic activity engaged in to obtain the water does get a bit burdensome at times.

The only 2 songs on here that play at being stylistically elaborate and develop to more than a standard 3 minute or less back and forth of speed and breakdown are “Bloodthirsty” and “Inquisition”. Granted, both of these songs often find themselves in the same area as their shorter counterparts, but they throw in some much needed tempo contrast where necessary, particularly in the case of the latter which starts off in an oddly Cannibal Corpse meets Death area with a pounding double bass line and a sea of dissonant tremolo riffs in the guitars. And much like the often lauded “Angel Of Death” and “Raining Blood” off of the similarly paced “Reign In Blood”, these two songs are the only ones that really demand immediate memory retention.

Granted, there is nothing that even approaches being either bad or half-assed to be found on this entire album, just a lot of songs that run together and end up in the exact same place. The level of outright worship of Slayer gets a bit overly obvious in “Jesus Lies”, which is largely a lyrical and musical nod to “Jesus Saves” that attempts to up the ante by being overtly anti-religious rather than sarcastically derisive about it, and also by dropping an elongated mid-tempo intro for a straight 2 and ½ minutes of straight ahead speeding mayhem. And that is pretty well the story of the rest of the content on here, a solid yet unvaried package of speeding mayhem with shredding guitar solos and grunted, percussive, quickly enunciated lyrics depicting just about every obligatory nightmare associated with the darker side of the thrash style.

There is absolutely nothing to hate about this album from a thrash maniac’s perspective, but this is a bit more along the lines of a solid effort rather than an extraordinary one. The die-hard Exodus fan who likes his thrash a little bit slower and crunchier will find this coming up short in that department compared to “Dead Again” and “Bloodbath”, and most non-thrash metal heads will find an album lacking any degree of subtlety, which is often the chief draw for that crowd to the so-called Big 4 whom (with the exception of Slayer) didn’t dwell too heavily on the extreme fringes of the style. It’s a good listen, but there is better out there, especially amongst the original 80s albums that first spawned this out-of-control brand of voluntary neck dislocation.

Thrash has made a comeback, to be certain, but how many bands of the new breed carry the true spirit of 80s thrash without sounding like they're just treading water (like so many of those 80s bands that have reformed to cash in on the trend...other than perhaps Sacrifice, please, just stop, guys)? Not many. Violator and Gama Bomb spring to mind, among a few others...they both embody what 80s thrash was about...energy, aggression, and wicked riffs. Vektor is also at the top of the heap, of course, but they are pretty much in a class all their own.

Then there is Suicidal Angels. Whereas Violator and Gama Bomb clearly espouse the fun, lighthearted aspects of thrash (like, say, Tankard), S.A. is dark, vicious, and evil (more in the vein of Kreator or early Dark Angel)...just the sort of traits you want in a thrash metal band. They are easily one of the best of the new breed going right now, at least so far as I've heard. Popular bands like Evile and Warbringer just don't have the metal in their veins, at least to my ears. S.A. does.

On their debut, things were rougher sounding and more consistently speedy than on this, their second full-length, but the improved production and songwriting has made for an ultimately longer-lasting listen. I've been spinning this one for an awful lot of months now, and it stays fresh to this day. Ripping and memorable riffs, sinister (somewhat hushed) vocals, a good blend of fast (Bloodthirsty, Apokathilosis, Jesus Lies, Dark Abyss) and mid-paced (Inquisition, Atheist, Mourning of the Cursed) songs, and a polished recording make for a truly solid slab of thrash.

As good as Eternal Domination was, this one is a slight (sometimes marked) improvement in every way. The band is tighter as a unit, and the individual instruments are played with more skill and precision than before. There is still room for improvement, and I fully expect Dead Again and future albums to turn up the heat even more.

Over the recent years, the Greeks are really getting good at the art of heavy metal music, and this time we have here some modern thrash metal for our ears, courtesy of Suicidal Angels, with their sophomore effort, “Sanctify the Darkness”.

First, we talk about the vocals. Although it sounds raspy and exotic (for its accent, primarily), the vocals have one primary defect on it: it sounds too soft for thrash. Thrash metal is about force, speed and energy, and therefore the music itself should have those three characteristics, and of course, that includes the vocals. Meanwhile, let’s move on to the more important part of the music: the riffs. We hear here some guitar work that is either fast or mid-paced (which reminds me of Slayer very much, with the dissonance), but rather repetitive (more like a rip-off), which is the main problem when it combine them to repetitive drum beats, which I often hear here. Lastly, we have a clear production here that suits the fast, anti-Christian thrash music here.

Songs here like “”Bloodthirsty”, “Apokathilosis”, “No More Than Illusion” and “Dark Abyss (Your Fate is Colored Black)” has the ferocity and the energy good thrash songs have, but these characteristics alone aren’t enough to save this album’s flaws from getting noticed and here’s why: First, the album has nothing else but speed and vigor. Although an ideal thrash song needs these two things mentioned earlier, having no sense of variety and progression makes the music stale. Second, the repetitiveness of the guitars and the drums make this record rather a nuisance to listen to, not memorable. Last but not the least, the songs mentioned a while ago isn’t even that good at all. Most of those songs are just average, or worse, mediocre.

Sadly, this isn’t a thrash album worth your money or much of your time. If you really want to listen to new thrash, you go start listening to Evile or Gama Bomb.

originally p\made for http://mystifymyserie.blogspot.com

The first time I heard these guys was a couple days ago at an Overkill gig. I never have any expectations of support bands I’ve never heard of. I’ve been to hundreds of gigs and they always suck. It’s almost like the lead bands choose them on purpose so that they look better (ok, it’s most probably because there aren’t any good new bands out there). And the funny thing is that they always declare that they play thrash or old school heavy metal or whatever, but what they say the do and what they do is two completely different things.

So, I was expecting some of the same last night. How wrong could I be! Of the three bands supporting yesterday I saw two, one being of course Suicidal Angels. It was the one of the two best ‘unknown’ support bands I’ve even seen (the other funnily being Savage Messiah that played just before them)!

These guys thrash properly. And thank god (or satan) they are NOT original. They stink 80’s. Influences come from Possessed, Sodom, (early) Slayer, (early) Sepultura, Onslaught, (early) Kreator and all the proper thrash bands. If you are looking for originality go and listen to Korn or Machine Head or any other monkeys that hold their microphones upside down. These guys play proper thrash. And this can never be original. This is 80’s music and this is how it should be played!

Now, about the album, I’ve been listening to it (and the previous one) non-stop online for the last couple days and it’s really solid, head banging stuff from start to finish. Production is very good and it’s a bit more polished and professionally made than their previous album. Also, this is more thrash oriented than the previous, which had a lot of early death elements. In addition there are a few changes of the tempo with rhythmic sections, nothing progressive though.

As I wrote before their influences come from Possessed, Sodom, Slayer, Sepultura, Onslaught, Kreator etc, so their lyrics are blasphemous, the vocals are proto death (although a bit clearer on this one), the riffing fast, furious and heavy and the drumming relentless (and like in all proper thrash records you need to be a sound expert to hear any kind of bass). It’s difficult to choose a highlight from an album like this, but if I had to I would say Apokathilosis, Atheist and Dark Abyss. And for the cherry on top this also comes on vinyl! Any 80’s thrash fans out there do yourselves a favour and get your copies. I’ve already ordered mine on vinyl.

The only problem with this band is their name. Suicidal Angels, it sounds like a girly goth band to me, haha. Seriously, I really hope all the best for you guys and never change your sound. Progress is for those who don’t know when they have something good.

Nuclear Blast has snapped up yet another thrash metal band, and if this isn't proof of the genre's official 'arrival' (though it never quite departed), I don't know what is. Suicidal Angels is a Greek band akin to Released Anger. They play a heavier band of thrash with a slight touch of death metal, and a riffing style only marginally derived from the Germanic sounds of Sodom and Destruction. The band is fast, crisp, furious, and thankfully they do not blow hot air out of their asses in the form of 'thrash' titled songs or excessive retro mongering. Sanctify the Darkness is actually their second album, and continues the blasphemous lyrical spew that permeated their 2007 debut, Eternal Domination. Disease and corruption of Biblical proportions dominate the lyrics, and Nick Melissourgos has a decadent grit to his vocals (partially imbued by his accent) which helps them stand out.

Suicidal Angels is at first "Bloodthirsty", but though the song picks up in a frenzy, it's not the best foot forward for this album, simply sounding like an average Sodom sound-alike. "The Pestilence of Saints" is better, with a good thrust to the lead-in rhythm and a brief Slayer-like breakdowns, before the solid verse riff. "Inquisition" opens with a death metal rhythm, proceeding through a mid-paced thrash shuffle and then into a faster death/thrash rhythm with Sodom and Pestilence influences. "Apokathilosis" breaks into a nice thrashing trot and has some wild leads, and "...Lies" once again evokes the forceful, fanatical riffing of Sodom and Slayer. As for the album's latter portion, there are some solid tracks in "No More Than Illusion", "Beyond the Laws of Church", and "Dark Abyss (Your Fate is Colored Black)".

This is certainly no original band, and not about to steal the throne of Greek thrash established by Flames a few decades past. But their energy is as infectious as their influences would dictate, and it's a fun listen, although the tracks do start to feel very samey throughout. The mix is good and punchy, with the crisp licks and light hammering of the drums in great balance to bear the brunt of the unkempt vocals. Sanctify the Darkness is at least a superior offering to that being produced by the other old school thrash bands who seem to make waves these days, a sign that the band has been plugging away for years. But I would never reach for this album over the source material.

Highlights: Inquisition, Apokathilosis, Beyond the Laws of Church

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com