WRAITH/BASTARDIZER – ‘Speed Armageddon’ (Bonepick Records)
INDIANA THREE-PIECE WRAITH have made good use of their time this year, with their lockdown e.p having come out in May, and now this split with Australians BASTARDIZER less than two months later. And these songs are no mere pot-boilers; what we get from Sokol’s crew here are 8 minutes of typically vitriolic, stripped-down black thrash of the TOXIC HOLOCAUST school. These WRAITH tracks are even more powerful than the four on the lockdown e.p. They are of the same standard as the material on ‘Absolute Power’ and wouldn’t have sounded out of place on that album. ‘Speed Kills’ represents Wraith’s finest work to date, with simple but catchy blackened metalpunk riffs driven forward by insistent d-beats from Mike Szymendera and Matt Sokol’s larynx-shredding vocals, it is a match for the very best in the genre. The same can be said for ‘Deathstrike’, a head-rattling thrasher intensified in the second minute by what is probably the best and most proficient guitar solo Sokol has produced so far. Their cover of GBH’s ‘Sick Boy’ is a straight rendition complete with a ripping guitar solo, faithful to the original but injected with WRAITH’s own brand of schizoid venom, with vocals sounding less like GBHs Colin Abrahall and more like Quorthon. It tops off WRAITH’s contribution perfectly.
Sidney four-piece BASTARDIZER get only six minutes to WRAITH’s eight, but they easily make up for that with sheer brutality. The band have two full length albums under their belt, the last being 2018’s ‘Dawn Of Domination’, and they were formed in 2013. Their first offering here - ‘Erotic Christ’ - sounds a lot like the big Teutonic thrash bands, specifically DESTRUCTION, with vocals that are eerily reminiscent of Schmier. It’s a mid-paced old-school track with a strong riff wrapped around a stubborn, storming beat. But things step up at least two gears for BASTARDIZER’s second song. This is a much more ferocious offering, with thundering double bass drum and blast beats hammering like rail cannon. ‘Mark Of The Storm’ is a virulent blend of SODOM and SARCOFAGO, with riffs that are rooted deep in black metal soil, and it will leave you gasping for more at the end. In fact, this split would have benefited from a third BASTARDIZER track to even things up. But you can’t have everything. As it is, this release provides a good snapshot of two of the black thrash/metalpunk genre’s leading bands at the top of their form.
‘Speed Armageddon’ is out on the 22nd June on Bonepick Records. It will be available via streaming, digital download and limited edition vinyl. Help the bands and yourself by buying a copy now.
J. Cooper (2020)
Limited Edition 10" vinyl preorders launch June 22nd. Black and grey splatter pressed on clear vinyl.
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