Far East Necromancers

Okay the review title is only partially true. I have been getting back into thrash as of late and figured that the far east would have the style I am looking for (I can’t stand the more common US thrash bands). Both of these bands are brimming with the simple style I am looking for: raw, dirty, fast, violent thrash metal.

Abigail

I must warn you, you need to listen to this side first, Fastkill are much more brutal and this side will seem like a fall back to earth if herd second. Abigail is pretty common in the Japanese underground scene but if you are hearing both bands here for the first time, these guys aren’t as fast as Fastkill or as brutal but they make up for it with structure and maturity.

Abigail’s raw thrash sound is displayed here in full force. The drumming is consistently fast, and is balanced well with the guitars and vocals. The riffs are pretty catchy and solos are pretty abundant, the bass is more audible on the first track then the second track however. Vocals are solid; Gezol and Yasuyuki sound pretty similar, but deliver a fair performance, nothing special. Rating: 85

Fastkill

Okay, these guys take the gold for fast and brutal I will give them that, but Abigail wins the award for song structure. The riffs are insane and the drumming is consistent blasting, you can’t help but headbang however I can see these guys going into crossover territories in the future. The vocals are incomprehensible and borderline grindcore at times. Any bass guitar sound is non-existent. If you listen to enough death metal you can probably tell the difference between a punkish blast beat and more metalized one, the drumming on here is more towards the punk side in terms of blasting.

These guys sound like Abigail 15 years younger and on cocaine. I can see these guys going places. Rating: 80.

This is a good EP, but like the thousands of other 7 inch splits in the world not really essential. I got it as an introduction to both bands (I will be seeking full lengths by either band sooner or later now). I was impressed with both bands, liked the Abigail side better, but that’s just me.