Down with the Nails

Old’s debut was released in 2006. One must know this date, because the sound wants to tell the listener that “Down with the Nails” was recorded in 1984. Nice try, guys. The band seemed to use guitars that were covered by many layers of dust and cob webs. The drums sound dry, the bass is absent. By the way, the same goes for the bass drum. As far as I can hear, the entire drum kit consisted only of a snare. Okay, we do not want to squander resources. Finally, the vocals deliver a proper portion of more or less robust rage.

So what is this debut all about in terms of style and genre? Old – nomen est omen – refer to the well-established, more or less legendary heroes of extreme metal. The name of the opener indicates a lot of Celtic Frost, remember “Jewel Throne” from “To Mega Therion”. Indeed, the vocalist intersperses some “Ugh” belches and sometimes the guitar lines lie in close proximity to those of the Swiss pioneers. On this subject, “Empire in Flames” provides the evidence. But venomous up-tempo infusions like “Lust in Red” or “A Knife” speak another yet equally filthy language. They deliver dirty, snotty thrash of the cheap yet exciting form. Nocturnal or early Cruel Force come to my mind. There exist definitely worse bands to lean on the shoulder of, if my rotting brain does not let me down.

Some creaky guitar lines sound like an iron dungeon door slamming into the lock. From time to time, they do not win an award for originality, but some things need to be in the oven longer to taste good afterwards. I am not against innovative elements per se. For instance, Attila’s theatrical vocal lines in the title track of Mayhem’s eternal classic (you know its name) were a stunning new feature. Different opinions are forbidden! But I also do not miss experiments as long as I get an appropriate dose of the music I like. This is the case here. Old do not look to the left or to the right, they just celebrate their stubbornness and spend us another title that shows their affinity for previous milestones from Switzerland. “Triumph of D…”, pardon, “Triumph of Hell” is another speedy bonebreaker. Nevertheless, there are also some reptile-like sections to find on this album. Anyway, its material has not much in common with doom metal, to say the least.

To be honest, I haven’t found fillers on “Down with the Nails”, but outstanding killers also do not show up. Everything is okay, resilient and true to the guidelines the ancient idols have set, but five or ten percent more catchy parts would have been helpful. The songs are good, but lack individuality, not excessively, but a little. That’s no big deal – it is just the factor that made it impossible for me to give a higher rating than I did. You can spend a maliciously grinning time with this album, but if you want to check out even better German black thrash, then lend an ear to Ketzer (only the debut!), Desaster (especially the debut) or Cruel Force (maybe not the debut, but “Under the Sign of the Moon”). But beware, the spirit and youth of 1984 are unfortunately not returning.

Old are a killer four-piece black/thrash act hailing from Germany. Germany is known mainly for being the country of origin of the three kings of the Teutonic thrash scene: Sodom, Kreator, and Destruction; all of which have (or had) a distinct style of evil, dirty sounding thrash metal. Then there’s other names such as Old who follow suit but take it to the next level. These German bastards have been at it since ‘03, bombarding us with filthy black/thrash. Unfortunately they are currently on hold, but they’ve left us with this hidden gem to keep us satisfied.

“Down With The Nails” begins with a slight doomy edge. “Black Jewel Throne” kicks off the album with an assault of catchy, mid-paced riffs that’ll certainly keep your head nodding along. Some may be slightly turned off by its slow tempo, but this is probably the slowest song in the entire album. In addition to its catchy d-beat chorus, it has some pretty cool lead work following after; a thing that’s rather scarce in this style of metal. After “Black Jewel Throne” comes a furor of different styled riffs, slightly akin to monsters such as Celtic Frost, Hellhammer, at times Aura Noir and Darkthrone.

Now, this is not the average black/thrash album. There isn’t much use of all-out black metal riffs and you probably won’t hear all-out thrash riffs either. What I especially like about this record is that it has tons of riffs spread throughout that bring to mind an undeniable speed metal influence. An example of this is in the intro to “Blood Skull,” or the one on “Down With The Nails.” These catchy riffs are simple but will tear you in and rip you apart, mixing within them a black metal influence as well; the end result being totally sick. Another worthy mention is the break in “Down With The Nails,” where the bass plays alone and is subsequently followed by a vehement speed metal attack.

The drums are fairly straightforward, varying from d-beats to slower mosh-styled ones and the occasional double-bass work. There isn’t that much variety, but there certainly is no need for it. To my recollection, there isn't one single blast beat on the entire record--which in this case is definitely a pro in my opinion. The guitars are terrific, and the crunchy, filthy guitar tone is awesome, suiting Old’s brand of black/thrash perfectly. The vocals are your typical black metal ones, save for the occasional howl that’ll make your spine crawl.

I don’t think I can say much else about this album. It has its many merits: doom, speed, black, thrash riffs; a very cool mixture. A must for any fan of old school black, thrash or speed metal alike. Definitely check this one out, it won’t disappoint.

-SmithMetal84
Originally written for http://ravenousreviewswebzine.blogspot.com/

…out with the new. This is the spirit that Germany’s Old impresses upon the listener. While this is probably one of my favorite types of black metal, I wasn’t completely blown away by Down with the Nails. Hellhammer and Darkthrone are the prevailing influences here and Old render those guys so very well. Every track is played fast and dirty. The drums are hellish and crude if not especially unique. There are well placed solos that underscore the nostalgia which also reminds that this is thrash at its most continental. But while Darkthrone took the baton from Hellhammer and Celtic Frost and perfected it unto their own style, there seems to be a sense that bands like Old are only satisfied with hammering the nail on the head of these influences unto listeners of old school metal. This is not a bad thing at all and I enjoyed its memory lane but just as long as you don’t expect any torch bearing.

Bear in mine also that the songs in this album are wonderfully geared to be played live in small clubs where bands like Hellhammer thrived back in the early days. As a matter of fact, you will notice that the production is very grimy and brisk.You could almost hear this recording sounding accurate as if it was recorded in such a club: low-lit, sweaty and with the stench of beer and puke. Would you have it any other way?

As far as the actual songs are concerned, Black Jewel Throne starts out fairly assertive but didn’t catch my attention too much as far as openers go but I enjoyed its consistency with the better songs to follow. Blood Skull comes right after and probably would have been better to be out at the start of the track list. Its title alone endeared me to Thomas Gabriel Fischer’s legacy of cavernous simplicity and speed. The songs A Knife and Triumph of Hell reminded me of Marduk’s first album Dark Endless especially with the vocals in that they are the moderated shrieks that can be found in some old death metal as well. Triumph in Hell notched up the acceleration slightly without compromising the amble of the rest of the songs. It has some great Faustian lyrics on there to go along with its flight of fast and loose riffs. The last song really caught on with me but there is a short bass solo on it that seemed a bit out of place. I wasn’t satisfied at how the song just stopped either. I felt it could have used a bit more stomp and a little less crunch.

Down with the Nails is an authentic tribute to early black metal and the band clearly sounds like they had fun recording it. I look forward to checking out their EP and hopefully a future release as well because I think an elevation in pattern and song structure next time would really put a band like this over the top. Until then, I can still appreciate this new adulation for the old by Old.

Evil as fuck, simplistic and extremely aggressive; I read in a magazine that Old claim that their name is short for Old School, and their music sure as hell doesn’t disappoint. Old play old school blackened thrash in the vein of Hellhammer/ Celtic Frost and old Bathory, mixed with some Darkthrone influences. No keyboards, no experimentation, no bullshit.

Down With The Nails is mainly driven by the rusty, grating guitar, with riffing in the vein of Hellhammer/Celtic Frost taken in a more Teutonic thrash direction (hardly surprising, as Old are from Germany after all). The riffing is really excellent, with tonnes of thrashy, catchy, evil riffs (such as the main riff to the title track) popping up throughout the album. Tempos are not overbearingly fast, with lots of mid paced and slow sections to keep things interesting. Reaper’s snarled vocals are executed extremely well, seething with conviction. Drumming is extremely simple but effective, consisting of rock beats during slower sections and thrash beats in the faster with not a single blast beat in sight! Double bass is sparingly but tastefully used. The album is given a slightly punkish feel by Old’s simplistic approach, focusing on quality riffs and memorable song writing.

The raw production of the album leaves the guitars and vocals high in the mix with the drums turned up loud but not domineeringly so; allowing the guitars to do their stuff. The bass guitar is left buried beneath the guitars, popping up for a short solo in the title track.

Lyrically Old don’t try to be clever or philosophical; lyrics are typical blood, violence and Satan, with the words Satan, hell and blood appearing in just about every line. Despite this Reaper’s vicious vocal delivery prevents the album from sounding cheesy at all.

In terms of individual track quality the album in incredibly consistent, with no real weak points at all, however; opener Black Jewel Throne, Blood Skull, and the awesome title track closer are all just a few notches better than the other songs on album.

So, in conclusion, if you want old school, no bullshit, blackened thrash then look no further than this album. It may lack a bit of originality but it makes up for this in quality riffage and great song writing.

Blood skull blasphemy!

I knew Old from their first EP "Nocturnal Ritual" and the Blood Skull tape and I was possessed by this raw and insane black thrashing Metal of this releases.
So I couldn't wait to get new material of that great band. Finally after some months I hold their new and great titlet album in my hands. "Down with the nails".


After the first listening I was a little bit disappointed with the sound because the band lost that unique feeling of the last EP with their special raw and cold sounding guitars.
After listening again and again I began to like the new sound which comes to my ears like a mighty iron drill. The guitar sounds like rusty steel grinding against each other and the vocals can be described as a mixture of Hellhammer's Tom G. Warrior and Vulcano's Angel worshipping the eternal fires of hell. Although there are some changes in the music you always hear that it is Old, like you know them from their "Nocturnal Ritual" EP.
Simple but great guitar riffs combined with simple drumming like you know it from bands like old Celtic Frost and the likes. Nothing more and nothing less an old school banger needs to raise hell while drinkeing a lot of beers, haha!


The Songs are not very varied and you have to listen to the CD a few times till you get every single song in your head. But it doesn't really care because there is no weak song on this CD and who the fuck needs musical variety on such an album?
Most of the songs are not that fast as the older ones but the aggression has stayed the same and there are always some insane parts that makes you raising your fist and banging like hell. Sometimes there are some cool guitar solos, too.


If you worship bands like old Celtic Frost, Hellhammer and Deathstrike for example you will be possessed by this album!!!