Copyright (c) 2007-2024 THE THRASH METAL GUIDE 0-9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
P.D.P. (USA)
Based on the full-length debut, this act create intense modern thrashcore which mixes fast energetic pieces with dragging groovy ones this blend really livened up by the inclusion of a few ripping numbers like "Pile Driven" and "Twisted" which easily cross over to the death metal side on the more brutal passages. "Weight Of The World" tries to add more technical rhythms to the picture later helped by the abstract jumpy mechanizer "Fiend"; and the more dynamic closer "3.17". The singer shouts in a forced quarrelsome fashion the whole time and additionally puts more noise to the quasi-industrial landscape.
100% Heavyocity EP, 2008 Official Site P.O.S.T. (RUSSIA)
Based on the demo, this Russian trio offer interesting technical retro thrash with spacey progressive hooks. "Chaos" is an intense opener with loads of quirky tunes and riffs which later get translated handsomely on "Believe In Change" this number more moderate and more complex. "Tragedy" is more on the power/speed metal side, but is satisfying enough to make this band at least equal to their compatriots Trizna who were operating in a similar niche at the time.
Paroxysm Of Sudden Thrill Demo, 1994 Official Site P.T.O.M.A. (GREECE)
This is decent modern thrash metal (based on the debut demo) played energetically with a crisp, but a bit thin, guitar sound which still is not a detraction from intense headbangers like "The Decomposed Pork Chop". "Die With Titties In Your Face", as you have already guessed by the title, is an uplifting jokey crossover piece to which the gruff drunken punk vocals are a perfect match.
P.T.O.M.A. Demo, 2011 Facebook PACE OF HEARSE (GERMANY)
"Thrash The Heads" offers short, direct raw thrashers, not too far from Hirax, but more aggressive and with a worse sound quality. The singer adds to the raw pristine sound of the recording with his sinister hoarse voice. "Troops of the Hearse" is longer, but doesn't waste time and thrashes without mercy having also a cool lead guitar section.
The DemoN Demo, 2005 My Space PACK OF WOLVES (USA)
Groovy post-thrash of the jollier type, not hitting hard in any department except in the vocal one, where the guy rends his throat to the point of hysteria. The music is mid-tempo to slow with references to doom, and crossover on the faster parts.
Betrayer Full-length, 2009 My Space PACTUM (MEXICO)
Based on "Haciendo Justicia Con Tu Propia Mano", this band offers rough thrashy hardcore with modern references not far from Madball with a pinch of more recent Pro-Pan. The guitar sound is a bit chuggy, and the vocalist is the staple angry shouter. “Voluntad” is an energetic bouncer, and “Druglords” is another more dynamic hardcore-peppered tune, but elsewhere the band don’t exercise their more aggressive muscle so much, opting instead for meeker albeit corrosive jump-arounds like “En un Rincon del Planet” and “Overdrive”.
M.O.D.L. EP, 1989 Official Site PADORIA (SWITZERLAND)
Based on the full-length, this band play modern power/thrash/post-thrash which moves around with friendly welcoming rhythms, above all, the horse semi-clean vocalist the main disturber, the energetic "Shield & Spear" providing the occasional more unnerving element from the music side. The more dynamic gallops on "Hateful Spirit" are also worth mentioning as well as the more technical stomps on the otherwise doom/stoner-bound "Starkblast", the screamy wa-wa leads on this one (and elsewhere) a true highlight with their psychedelic 70's vibe.
Suicidal Breed EP, 2017 Official Site PADRA (IRAN)
The Middle East is waking up for more intense thrashing, but in this case this is another passable modern post-thrashy entry which by all means has its more aggressive aspect ("Ehsasate Gaav", the infectious speedster "Yeki Bood,Yeki Nabud"), but generally this is catchy and friendly music which also wins from the pleasantly inebriate clean vocals.
Hezartooye Tanafor Full-Length, 2016 Official Site PADRAX (ECUADOR)
Based on the full-length, this band play retro thrash/crossover which comes heftily black-decorated thanks to the screechy raven-like vocals and the several more intense proto-blasting adherences. "Intoxicacion" and "Witchunter" carry the vehement charge of the album, whereas "Guerreros del Sol" is the moody creepy presence, "Headbangers" fully justifying its title with its short hyper-active non-fussy execution.
Padrax EP, 2014 Facebook PAGAN MOON (COLOMBIA)
A retro black/thrash formation which indeed manages to create some pagan atmosphere with its musical exploits, the latter epic and dramatic without essentially sticking to very fast-paced developments. The slightly cavernous production also helps the guys' cause, not to mention the hissing sinister blacky vocals. "Energy" can't be any more appropriately-titled, a raging death metal-ish composition, inspiring "Invasor" for another more aggressive outbreak.
Arte Oculto Full-Length, 2022 Youtube PAGAN RITES (SWEDEN)
The guys from the heavy/black metal outfit Devil Lee Rot, along with Devil Lee Rot himself, have decided to harden the course a bit, under a new name. Based on "Pagan Metal - Roars of The Anti Christ", this is black/thrash metal sounding like a more vicious version of the Devil Lee Rot music, not very fast or aggressive, also recalling another Swedish act: Bewitched. An interesting moment are the doomy tracks ("Unholy Ancient War"), which bring the sound close to the veterans Bathory, Celtic Frost and Venom. The rest is cool simplistic headbanging stuff including mellower songs which sound as though directly taken from the Devil Lee Rot albums ("Pagan Metal").
Sodomy in Heaven EP, 1994 My Space PAGAN WAR MACHINE (USA)
A side project of the Dreams of Damnation members; here the music is cleared of the aggressive proto-death parts of the other band's style, which makes it more melodic and less enjoyable. The concentration is on heavy 90's aggro thrash akin to Pantera and Machine Head, and on vocals Steve Gaines does a good job to impersonate Phil Anselmo.
Demo Demo, 2002 PAGANDOM (SWEDEN)
Based on the debut, this act plays typical modern 90's post-thrash with the groove and all the rest; one of the many Pantera and Machine Head-clones. Some of the band members also play with the sludge/doomsters Transport League.
Hear Your Naked Skin Say Ashes to Ashes Demo, 1990 Official Site PAGANFIRE (PHILIPPINES)
Based on the EP, this young band plays black/thrash of the raw amateurish variety with vicious rending black metal vocals. The guys bash the whole time and don't conceal their infatuation with the early efforts from the Brazilian scene (Holocausto, Sextrash, Vulcano, etc.) and the Canadians Sacrifice debut, but they have to work harder in order to reach those acts.
Paganfire Full-length, 2005 Official Site PAGANIZER (SWEDEN)
This band started mixing thrash and death metal of the old school on their debut; crushing and mostly fast-paced music, with a certain use of blast-beats, which could have been avoided, because they break the integrity of the compact, and quite cool thrash/death metal sound. Later on thrash metal stepped down, and their subsequent releases have embraced the death metal idea tighter, again doing a good job, along the lines of the early Swedish heroes from the movement: Grave, Entombed, etc.
Deadbanger Full-length, 1999 Official Site PAGANOS (ARGENTINA)
At the time when the veterans on the Argentinian metal scene were modernizing their sound, here came a band to put them all to shame. The album-title is misleading as there is nothing experimental here: this is all-out classic speed/thrash metal with great guitar melodies and catchy headbanging tracks: just listen to "Mi Legado" and jump around till you drop. Well, you can have a break on the next track "Creando Tu Destino" which is a cool balladic piece, but after it the assault goes on unabated with "Ni Muerto": the most aggressive number on the album. This work must have been one the first "sparkles" to rekindle the interest in retro thrash metal in South America.
Experimental Full-length, 1999 Official Site PAHAN IKONI (FINLAND)
Based on the full-length, this act provide modern thrash/death which has its heavy pounding moments ("PetoMieheksi"), but it also has its less
bridled galloping moments ("Sokea Lammas"), the moshing ripping "Yllamme Kaatuva Taivas" standing for the aggressive highlight here, although its restless spirit is easily matched by the brief breezer "1793" and by the more death-prone vitriolic "PahanIkoni". The vocals are harsh shouty death metal, spitting the lyrics with gleeful abandon. The band were earlier named Halo of Dreams, the style pretty much the same.
Kidu EP, 2015 Official Site PAIN (TURKEY)
These Turks provide stuff more melodic and more cleverly-constructed than what the demo-title suggests. This is more moderate classic thrash with clear progressive pretensions reflected in longer compositions and more expressive instruments the bass in particular being quite striking. "Guardians Of The Hell" is an imposing over 8-min opus which has all the necessary for a good progressive track ingredients which can be felt on the closing engager "Night Stalker" which is even longer (around the 10-min mark) and also contains brisk fast sections among the numerous melodic "decorations". The singer doesn't quite shine with his levelled indifferent semi-death metallish tone, but there's a potential here which shouldn't wait for too long before it takes a more acceptable shape.
Thrash Till Death Demo, 2003 PAIN (USA)
Aggressive Slayer-esque thrash, not bad, but the muddy sound quality is a major obstacle at times. Nevertheless the guys try
hard, and the leads are more sensible than the ones of Kerry King. The music is fast and intense all the time topped up by gruff
semi-death metal vocals.
Into The Bloodbath Demo, 1988 PAIN OF TRUTH (GERMANY)
Direct stripped-down retro thrash/crossover with frequent descent towards pure hardcore; blitzkrieg stuff, with covert echoes of
proto-death ("Deathbringer") as well, with shouty semi-clean vocals. "Revelation" breaks the hyper-active pattern with good steady mid-tempo riffs, a nice digression which
influences the interesting semi-balladic "The Great Pioneer" and the progressive symphonic extravaganza "Alone" near the end.
Stand Or Die Full-Length, 2019 PAIN PENITENTIARY (UK)
Based on the split, this act plays an extreme blend of death, thrash metal and grind. This is brutal relentless stuff which,
despite the dominant fast pace, offers heavy semi-sludgy breaks which work well giving the music a cool diverse twist. Still,
the thrash metal fans will not be very entertained: this is mostly death metal-based music with very brutal low-tuned growls.
"The Arcane Ascent" is a more stylish affair, with more technical embellishments which start from the get-go with the unpredictable jumpy mechanizer "The Soul Devourment", a masterpiece of shape-shifting modern thrash with echoes of Altered Aeon and even Vektor. The title-track is a cold dispassionate dystopian dirger, but delivers anyway despite its more rigid skeleton; still, the more dynamic walkabouts like "The Pious Mind" are the better proposition the more dramatic accumulations on "The Expurgation" bringing the winds of death metal for a bit the latter blowing in a more technical direction on the vivid hectic "The Automatic Worship of the Anti-God".
100% Heavyocity 2 EP, 2010
Mass Delusion Full-length, 2011
The Arcane Ascent Full-length, 2018
N1 Full-length, 2004
Bol Full-Length, 2008
The "S-POO-KY" demo is more in the thrash/crossover camp, the songs being more simplistic and more optimistic and decidedly more classic-sounding. "Decomposed Pork Chop", already heard on the debut demo, is a raging thrasher, and the last track is a cool nod to the veterans Nuclear Assault with a cover of their song "Sin" from the Americans' debut "Game Over", done in an energetic, faithful to the original, manner excluding the gruff semi-shouty hardcore vocals.
S-POO-KY Demo, 2011
The "ExtremeNuclearSlicer" EP is a 3-songer which sees the band still thrashing like demented on full-throttle adding the odd more melodic relief coming close to the unbridled fury of albums like Whiplash's "Power & Pain", Viking's "Do or Die" and Flames' "Nomen Illi Mors". The guys know their craft and among the incessant barrage one can distinguish cool melodic leads and riffs topped by the unholy shouts and screams of the singer who is a dead ringer for the early style of Tony Portaro (Whiplash).
Thrash The Heads Demo, 2006
ReHEARSEal Demo, 2007
Godzilla Strikes Back! EP, 2009
ExtremeNuclearSlicer EP, 2011
The EP comes with an awful sound quality which ruins the guys' efforts beyond repair. Otherwise this bass-boosted noise may pass for some kind of thrash/proto-death/core which ineptly tries to blend fast and slow sections resulting in chaotic, messy music which gets completely stifled by the bad shouty vocals. This is some really amateurish stuff which had missed its time by 5-6 years.
"F.A.L." is the typical for the time groovy post-thrash which has its more attractive, more dynamic moments ("Sangre En La Tierra", the speed metal delight "Rapina Organizada"). The closing "Avidos Dioses" is a nice melodic progressiver with balladic and doom/stoner shades.
“IV”: the guys are back, and their brand of crusty modern post-thrash/core is quite evident once again, “Lamashtu” also offering an intriguing doom-oriented perspective spiced with the requisite doze of energy, the short brisk “Nada me PodraDetener” teaming up with the thick dirgy grooves epitomized for “Tzintzimime”, “Marcha de los Muertos Vivientes” with both dynamics and atmosphere, the highlight here with the speed/thrashing delight “Necropoder” a very close second.
Ficcion, Lujuria y Blasfemia Full-length, 1992
F.A.L. Full-length, 1996
Haciendo Justicia Con Tu Propia Mano Full-length, 1997
IV Full-length, 2023
Antagonist Full-length, 2021
Sangolkillers Full-length, 2019
"Embrace The Torments of Hell" is vintage early Venom, but this time the tribute to the Brits is done in a softer rock-ish manner still containing pleasant surprises along the way: the speedy roller-coaster "The Horned Immortal"; the raging speed/thrashers "Baphometal" and "Tragedy Of Christ". "The Seal of Baphomet" at the end is a high-octane doomster with a speedy ending, and the bonus track after it, "Unholy Divine", is another sinister funeral doom metal piece ala early Cathedral with another faster exit, but done chaotically and with worse musicianship, obviously a "remnant" from an older demo.
The "Preachers from Hell" EP is a brutal affair the band thrashing, also blacking, in a vicious aggressive manner with a few softer relieves (the speed metal joy "Catholic Sodomy") plus a cool atmospheric doom/blacker ("Unhallowed Ground") with a melancholic pinch ala Katatonia as a finishing touch.
"Survival of the Antichrist Nation" is a brooding, mostly mid-tempo black/thrash amalgam, the band early establishing the minimalistic but effective delivery with "The Last Dance Around the Lake of Fire", a pagan/black thrasher which creeps unobtrusively backed up by the raw underground production. "D-Day" is a dark brooding offering with a hefty doom/dirgy clout, the band entering the funeral parlour with the trudgy but majestic opus "S.A.T.A.N.", Nameless Unseen" seeping with macabre atmosphere, recalling acts like Barathrum and Khold. "Born Again Pagan Knights" is a playful rock-ish proto-blacker, and the title-track is a marginally more dynamic pageant with echoes of early Venom.
Bloodlust and Devastation EP, 2000
Mark of the Devil Full-length, 2003
Dancing Souls Single, 2005
Pagan Metal Single, 2006
Pagan Metal - Roars of The Anti Christ Full-length, 2006
Embrace The Torments of Hell Full-length, 2010
Preachers from Hell EP, 2011
Survival of the Antichrist Nation Full-length, 2020
Bayonets And Battle Scars Demo, 2003
The demo is a pleasant surprise showing an act having some real potential at the very beginning. The band play technical Bay-Area thrash with clever stylish riffage, a good feel for the progressive ("Recipient" which may remind of "Leper Messiah"), and nice furious headbanging opportunities ("Sorry, I Forgot Your Funeral"). "What Now, My Friend?" finishes this successful attempt with a hefty portion of heavy seismic guitars predating the similar approach on Heathen's "Victim of Deception". Sadly, when the "Crushtime" came four years later, the guys had already turned to the dark side.
"Hurt as a Shadow": another obscure formation rises from the ashes and they show quite a bit of improvement, and have torn their bond with the groovy movement. In other words, this is primal old school thrash the guys moshing out with all the passion they can summon, the guitars coming with a slight abrasive flavour. "Hurt as a Shadow" provides a more moderate semi-galloping respite, and more sophisticated semi-technical thrashing springs up on "Behind the Words" and "Monochrome Vision"... however, the initial energy starts disappearing bit by bit replaced by the quiet balladic instrumental "Breather". "Not of Diamonds" brings back the more engaging power/thrashing, and "Bridges Burn" is the remorseless headbanger the second half badly needed to get back on track, leading to other similar explosions like "Terminal Narcissist" which pour more fuel into the furnace regardless of the mild semi-balladic nature of the closer "Flooded City". The band have made a statement here, and this opus is by far the best they have managed to come up with so far.
"Ashes" is another assured recording, the guys thrashing with a lot of confidence and gusto ("Oblivious", the vitriolic "Bury Their Names"), the
more varied but equally as venomous "Behind Walls of Glass" showing another, more ambitious side of the band's repertoire. "Don't" is just a heavy quasi-groover, and "End Begins" is an atmospheric experimental semi-relaxer, these cuts occupying the middle. The second half is a tad less consistent, "Blinded by the Dark" moshing in a curt spatout fashion, and the closing title-track is a furious modern thrash/proto-death walkabout.
Crushtime Full-length, 1994
Hurt as a Shadow Full-Length, 2016
Ashes Full-length, 2021
The full-length "Of Deathblades and Bloodsoaked Paths..." arrives after a lifetime of hibernation, but is a more aggressive offering, with a more overt death metal edge ("Bloodsoaked Life"), the latter nicely complementing the fervent thrashing spree unleashed, with "Poseurdom Shall Fall" spraining necks and contorting limbs with mirthful ease, the more technical carnival "Karumaldumal!Kasuklamsuklam!" a sure feats for the ears, alongside exhausting death-peppered excursions like "The Executor is Back".
Hate Vanishing Point EP, 2008
Of Deathblades and Bloodsoaked Paths... Full-length, 2021
"Scandinavian Warmachine": the music is more death metal-oriented, quite fast again, with a more polished and a more technical guitar sound, recalling Morbid Angel. The slow atmospheric compositions are a nice touch ("Colder") with an epic Amon Amarth-like flavour. "Thule in Flames", on the other hand, is pure black metal madness, hyper-fast and relentless. The technicality reaches its heights on the excellent stomper "Distracting the Gods To Enable the Slaughter Of Millions".
"World Lobotomy" is pure death metal with a thick melodic edge and as such doesn't offer much entertainment to the thrash metal fraternity. It's a pretty standard offering with reverberations from Dismember and Unleashed not breaking any new ground, but also failing to serve the best from the old school.
Warlust EP, 1999
Promoting Total Death Full-length, 2001
Dead Unburied Full-length, 2002
Murder Death Kill Full-length, 2003
No Divine Rapture Full-length, 2004
Scandinavian Warmachine Full-Length, 2009
Into the Catacombs Full-Length, 2011
World Lobotomy Full-Length, 2013
"Nos Vemos En El Infierno" would be another no-brainer for the classic thrash metal lovers starting with the energetic semi-technical mosher "Nos Vemos En El Infierno", before "Soy Pagano" cools the situation down a bit leaving room for more intense speed/thrash for a couple of tracks until the coming of "De Angeles a Demonios" which stays more on the melodic speed metal side. "Mala Yunta" is more vigorous and thrashy, still with melodic hooks aplenty, and the closer "Victimas Del Poder" is kind of underwhelming being optimistic crossover happiness followed by 4 bonus tracks which show the guys' less polished and rawer side thrashing hard and fast, even to the point of blast-beating ("El Mismo De Ayer", "El Pasajero") on a few moments.
"Infierno Real" arrives after a lengthy 8-year break, but shows the guys in fine form once again pulling out pretty decent old school stuff which this time is more melodic with more references towards the speed, as well as the power metal, field. As such some may be a bit disappointed since all-out thrash assaults are seldom encountered, replaced by a mellower more immediate delivery, even featuring a cool take on a more complex progressive song-writing: "Muerte Justa".
Infierno Real Full-length, 2007
Nos Vemos En El Infierno Full-length, 2010
Misantropia EP, 2016
Ikonoklasti Full-length, 2022