Year: 2024
Total Time: 48:24
Label: Nuclear Blast
We first met SUICIDAL ANGELS in 2007 and every two or three years at most we renewed our appointment. Eighth album for the Greek Trashers after five years of waiting for the very good “Years Of Aggression”. But it was worth the wait. The band seems to be at its most mature and creative point.
The album begins with a lethal trio of songs, starting with “When The Lions Die”, a classic Thrash Metal song that makes it clear what comes next. Next is “Crypts Of Madness”, a song that starts so dynamically with riffs that reap and in the middle about the speeds drop to return to red again towards the end of the track. The top three closes with a song with an Old School Thrash Metal character reminiscent of the golden era of German Thrash Metal. “Purified By Fire”, the third song, is one of the strongest songs on the album.
The fourth song is “Deathstalker” and here we will meet Sakis Tolis, Fotis Benardo and Efthimis Karadimas. Musicians with many years of experience set a special tone with their participation in the album. Excellent song that does not escape the character of the album despite its Heavy Metal orientation. We go halfway through the album with “Profane Prayer” which is the title of the album. The speeds go up and the classic Thash is back. The next song, “The Return Of The Reaper”, has a characteristic chorus that will surely stay with you from the very first listen. The knife goes deeper, return of the reaper you don’t want anything else from a Thrash album.
The next two songs are perfect for concerts. “Guard Of The Insane” and “Virtues Of Destruction” are about moshit pit and non-stop headbanging. In these two songs we have a merciless pounding without a trace of a break to catch your breath. A classic sample of well-played Thrash Metal that proves why SUICIDAL ANGELS are now considered one of the top bands of their kind worldwide. And for the end our band saved the best. A 10-minute song that is the highlight of the album. Even santouri you will hear, yes, you read santouri right, but put in such a way in the composition of the song that does not make it sound out of place. There could be no more ideal epilogue for an album like this.
They deserve a lot of kudos for this work in the quartet that makes up SUICIDAL ANGELS. With such albums the Greek Metal scene proves why it is so high worldwide!! At this point we should also make a reference to the album cover which is really a work of art and its creator is Ed Repka. 2024 finds the band with an album on fire in their baggage and a return to Nuclear Blast Records. We hope for a similar follow-up sooner, of course, than the five years of waiting we had this time.
Rating: 8/10
Editor: Andreas Fytros
Related Link: SUICIDAL ANGELS – Official Page
