Hirax : " Faster Than Death"

 

This is the second old-school thrash band that I am giving a chance after not ever giving them a solid listen during the peak of the 80s thrash years. These guys have been around for 40 years but this is only their sixth album, not the most prolific band. They stayed on the second tier of underground thrash acts, along with bands like Exciter. The vocals are more sung than snarled.They are almost like Anthrax, but with less memorable riffs, and a singer much less charismatic than Joey Belladonna. Though their more aggressive moments are on par with Overkill in terms of heaviness. But not touching either band when it comes to songwriting.

The first old-school thrash band I checked out this week was Sacrifice. Truth be told these guys could stand to learn a great deal from them. Mainly when it comes to production value. It could be argued that these guys stuck to their guns and at least kept their 80s sound. The drawback here is it does not pack as much of a punch as Sacrifice When reviewing the Sacrifice album, I noted they had their producer dial-in sound like a Power Trip album and this played to their favor. The bass tone on this album is clunky and the vocals are too upfront in the mix, the guitar needs to be cranked up, but instead, it all sounds like a cluttered mess. If this album came out in 1986 it might have been thought of as a banger, but in 2025 we have already heard this done to death. 

Once we get to "Warlord's Command' all the songs have begun to blur together. Though a more mosh-worthy riff does crop up in this one, they do not hang on it long enough to make a difference which is what sets a band like Exodus apart from these guys. Their singer has a voice that could work, but he just does not have the knack for hooky vocal lines. They pour on the speed for the last song and the vocals feel more awkward for this. I'll give this album a 7.' If you are a fan of the band and hungry for the nostalgia of what they were doing back in the day, then you are in the cult minority of those who are going to find this album engaging unless you are an indiscriminate fan of classic thrash, as they have retained the 80s. But Sacrifice really slays these guys when it comes to thrash, as does Atrophy whose album was released last year also stays relevant. This drops February 28th on Armageddon Label.  

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