Artist: Terrifier
Country: Canada
Label: Empire Records
Formats: LP / CD
Year: 2023
Although the darkness and violence of Black Metal and Death Metal makes up the majority of our TWD content, we are certainly up for a good serving of Thrash Metal too. The love for Thrash Metal runs at least as deep for yours truly, but it has to be said that in this field I am actually entertained mainly and almost exclusively by the bands and records from the 1980s. With few exceptions, the Thrash Metal revival from the late 00’s has done little to please me and, in my eyes, has even detracted from the genre as a whole.
Still, with bands like Nuclear Assault, Heathen, EvilDead, Lääz Rockit, Forbidden and the likes deep in my DNA, I can’t help being drawn to a record with an Ed Repka cover. So too in the case of this Canadian Terrifier. Although the music is quite modern and (a little too) well-produced, it does have an old-school feel to it. This third album, ‘Trample The Weak, Devour The Dead’, released on Belgium’s Empire Records, is brimming with recognisable riffs that occupy the middle ground between those bands I mentioned above. Angular riffs at a brisk pace, with vocals midway between that typical Thrash Metal shouting and something with a slightly more melodic edge, which is not all too far removed from Death Angel. The sharpness and angularity of the riffs are reminiscent to bands like Razor and allows the music to have a considerable crunch and bite, which sets the band apart from the overall tiresome bands of that aforementioned Thrash Metal revival. Terrifier distances itself from the many bands that made the aforementioned Thrash Metal revival so bland and bloodless, so, on ‘Trample The Weak, Devour The Dead’ you won’t find any trendy Evile-like stuff. Terrifier is all about the riffs and the tight, fast tempos and, in doing so, it most closely resembles Heathen. Of course, it does not yet reach that level and at some point the songs start to sound a bit alike, but if the band manages to work on dynamics (especially vocally) and catchiness in the compositions, Terrifier could easily do much more.
None of the album’s content is very uplifting, in the sense that Terrifier is reinventing the genre or even breathing new life into it. Terrifier sounds more like a bunch of young guys having a wonderful time and performing their favourite music. They do so with conviction and energy, something that shines off this record in large quantities. All comments and criticisms may be jotted down in the margins, so these should certainly not spoil all the fun.
