Suicidal Angels – Sanctify the Darkness (2010)

With the current Thrash revival we have been noticing that many circa 2000 bands have re-surfaced and now they are finally getting deals with higher-profile labels in their attempt to ride the Thrash metal magic pony during the last few years. Suicidal Angels is one of those bands that has been benefited by this revival, but that it also has enough substance in their music to be worth listening to and actually buying their albums.

The band plays old-school Thrash in a commanding manner and if it weren’t for the huge noticeable accent on the vocals we would never have guess they are from Greece. The influences behind this band are countless: old Slayer, Kreator, Possessed, old Sodom, etc. As you can expect you will not find anything original here, but who cares, if it’s well played Thrash metal, we are completely down for it.

The riffing is relentless and features a few original riffs here and there and some other ones that make you think “Where did I heard that before?”, but it’s all good since they are very well riff-cycled. The production is crushing and gives the album that nice sound from the past while keeping things clean and perfectly mixed together.

Like we said the vocals are good, but the accent is too noticeable sometimes making some things laughable. The drumming is top notch and the bass guitar is blasting from start to finish in a very powerful manner. All songs have nice head banging moments and will surely please any Thrash fanatic out there.

While we greatly enjoyed “Sanctify the Darkness” there are also a few things that make this release less appealing than albums by high-profile bands such as Exodus, Heathen, etc. First thing is that the band has a very old-school sound that some of the newer generation of fans will not completely get since there are almost no ‘modern’ elements in this release. The second thing is that the music is very, and we mean very, repetitive, yes there are some nice sections but repeating stuff over and over might wear some people down. Lastly, we think that the accent on some of the songs is very funky sounding and some people might not tolerate it.

However, we think that Suicidal Angels have done a pretty solid job with “Sanctify the Darkness” and will surely appeal to the vast majority of ‘classical’ Thrash Metal fans. And most weaknesses of this release can be easily overlooked once you get into the groove of this album. This band has been mainly promoted and gained notoriety in Europe; we think that now it’s their time to shine on the worldwide stage. So if you love Thrash, then definitely get this album now that is available in the USA via Sonic Unyon distribution.

Release: June 22nd, 2010 (USA)

Country: Greece