Raise the Dead, or Lose Your Moshing Face – 87%
bayern, February 9th, 2021
Hirax, Hirax… their early albums from the 80’s passed me by… completely. I’m not sure why provided that theirs were perfectly acceptable slabs of old school thrash. I guess it was the short, bordering-on-hardcore outbursts serving as the tracks on those that must have pulled me back… nah, not likely; we were just walking different trajectories, me and the band, at that time…
and we still were, at the dawn of the new millennium, when the band splashed this “Barrage of Noise” as a reunion stint, a heavier proposition with longer cuts. In fact, it’s a bit far-fetched to talk about a reunion here as from the original line-up it was only the singer Katon W. de Pena that showed up. Nothing too striking albeit strictly old school, this barrage had a superb follow-up three years later in the form of “New Age of Terror”, classic thrash at its smashing finest, the new recruits doing a great job in producing the band’s finest hour.
A series of EP’s, splits and compilations followed before the guys decided to scare the audience with this face of death. Fairly effective scare tactics for sure, lasting for over-50-min, and largely containing furious thrashing bolts, “Chaos and Brutality”, a remnant from one of the previous EP’s, nicely summing up the agenda with its title. Well, there’s not that much chaos to be come across, truth be told, but the brutal part is well justified, and not only by “Horrified”, a ripping piece of aggression with overt faces… sorry, shades of death. Yep, no one’s kidding here, but the title-track does take it easy, introducing a mellower layout and a nice catchy chorus. The short epic instrumental piece “Battle of the North” is another needful respite, including the dark doomy riffs on “Violent Assault” which is rather a steam-rolling assault, but those are just short breezes in a sea of uncompromising classic thrash tunes, “Satan’s Fall” giving a more ambitious, more variegated rendition of the latter canons as a more sprawling epitaph.
De Pena is in his nature as always, helping the cause with a couple of piercing screams, keeping his performance on the dramatic side for most of the time, spitting the lyrics with spite and passion on the more extreme moments. And those are quite a few here, this album decidedly more aggressive than its predecessor, easily matching the vehemence of the band’s 80’s recordings. It’s a clear sign that Hirax mean business, even more so than in the past, and that de Pena and his new colleagues are intent on becoming an indelible part from the old school resurrection movement. Another chapter from their legacy (“Immortal Legacy”) arrived five years later, another high-class collection of hyper-active retro thrash tunes to the bone, the guys keeping the memories of themselves alive, also making sure there’s no stagnation witnessed on the headbangers’ balls around the world.
rafazardly 