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Trench Hell > Southern Cross Ripper > Reviews
Trench Hell - Southern Cross Ripper

Misogynists and other cretins - 84%

Felix 1666, March 11th, 2016
Written based on this version: 2008, CD, Hells Headbangers Records

The cover sucks. A feast for sick misogynists, a reason to be ashamed for non-moronic metalheads. Nevertheless, I was not able to boycott the band, because the dudes from Australia play the kind of thrash that breathes the pure air of the old school. Nonetheless, it is also true that Trench Hell add a mid-sized dose of poisonous malignancy. The band joins the ranks of further vile gangs from Down Under that celebrate a constantly vicious approach. The musical direction differs, but this is not the crucial thing. Trench Hell's aura is comparable with that of formations like Assaulter or Deströyer 666. If you want to have a musical point of orientation, I would like to mention Hellbringer.

Abrasive guitars shape the verses and economical melodies characterise the choruses of the highlights. I am speaking about the title track and "Armoured Fist". Both tracks show the strength of the traditional verse-chorus-verse pattern. They are easily comprehensible, but not primitive. The exciting guitar work and the aggressive atmosphere guarantee a good fundament, while the simple yet enthralling choruses crown these straight frontal assaults. Anyway, I may not forget the performance of lead vocalist Kellhammer. He sounds rather ordinary, but he adds a correctly dosed pinch of contempt. Let us be realistic, there is a hugh number of more expressive voices in the thrash metal universe. Yet it is a fact that his approach affects the overall picture in a positive way.

"Southern Cross Ripper" impresses with a clean yet powerful mix which does not lack of sharpness. Too bad that Trench Hell did not deliver a full album with this sound. The extremely well defined technical implementation would have deserved to show its power for 40 minutes. Despite the clear sound, the EP cannot be blamed for sounding sterile. A remarkable degree of brutality and depravity prevents this impression. Each and every song features these elements, even the slightly weaker pieces ("Morbid Crimes" and "Last Rites"). However, the homogeneous song material does not show problematic variations in quality. All tracks have a small number of efficient riffs and are powered by the restless drums. The nonsensical sound effects (screaming women) recede into the background. Good to know.

With regard to the quality of the here presented output, Trench Hell have proven their musical skills. But a demo, an EP and a split - that is a rather feeble result in terms of quantity. Maybe the obviously lazy guys would be so kind to return with their full-length. I can offer to contribute the cover. What about a photo of Chancellor Angela Merkel? The misogynists will love it. Sometimes they are right.

The Australian Return of the Satanic Rites - 95%

Werewolf, December 19th, 2009

After the killer sounding 3 tracks 7”, here is the next attack of these Australian Hellhammering band, this time already not a duo but a trio. After the nice Speed Metallish intro, this EP dives straight into the sound and atmosphere of the legendary STANIC RITES demo, delivering raw as fuck blackened Speed Metal that sounds more evil than Satan! Simple but great riffs and obscure sound that totally catches the atmos-fear of Hellhammer’s cult demo. For those who know this classic demo - there's no need in a too deep description of the music, think primitive and raw sounding Speed Metal, inspired by Venom and trying to sound even more atrocious, raw and evil.

If the first association that comes to your mind when you hear “Eurynomos” is NOT Mayhem, if this band is not only not forgotten, but not even buried for you – this is exactly what’s missing in your Metal to the bone collection!However, TH didn’t simply rip HH’s riffs, so the only thing that sounds copied here is the vokillz, which sound almost identically similar to the man who once was WARRIOR. Still, this IS a progress since the 7”, because the guitar work is way more interesting here. In short, this EP is not a recommendation, it’s a MUST HAVE!

Mediocre material, stellar production - 69%

shantanupatni1991, February 20th, 2009

As you might already know, this band is quite similar to Hellhammer and Venom. What you might not have given a thought to, is the fact that the aforementioned giants entered the scene at a time when it was quite underdeveloped. Therefore, merely copying the style and playing won’t yield the same result now.

What I’m saying is that the riffs present here would have been revolutionary during the early 80s, but for 2008 this is just too backward, generic and out dated. It’s like going back and choosing to live in the Stone Age just to get rid of the present world worries without realizing what you will have to sacrifice in the process.

The first track, Night stalker starts with some sounds of chains and after about 30 seconds the actual music kicks in. I was immediately impressed by the production but the riffs I felt were too simple, basic power chord stuff. The song does not feature any vocals or fillers, just 3 similar sounding riffs played one after another. The next song again has a similar riff and vocals quite similar to, as I mentioned Venom and Hellhammer. The song construction is far from impressive and so are the solos. All songs are of pretty much this standard and thus fail to leave a mark on the listener. There’s good chance you might forget about it after less than a couple of listens.

If I were to rate this EP without considering the year it came out in I would give it a good 85, but that’s just not the way to do it. The only thing to praise about this band is how it has been able to recreate the raw production and aggression which is these days not to be seen. Besides that, no, not the most creative piece of music I’ve heard.

Sons Of Hellhammer - 76%

Vaibhavjain, February 14th, 2009

Hell Trench is a Australian thrash metal band who have gained a lot of popularity with their 2004 Demo which showed yet another new school thrash band on their way and playing their part for the revival of old school thrash metal. With the release of this EP, entitled “Southern Cross Ripper” they have showcased their undying love for the thrash metal genre.

Playing raw thrash metal, this band along with Kellhammer on the guitars and Johnny Touch on the drums features the ever so famous Hexx who has become a new age thrash messiah with his work with another runner in the race of reviving old school thrash, the highly sought of Toxic Holocaust.

The album starts off with an instrumental track by the name of Nightstalker. A brilliant display of aggressive musicianship backed by a relentless assault on drums pave way for the title track. Considered an underground thrash anthem now, influences like those of Motorhead, Venom and a lot of Hellhammer can be seen. The vocals are a rehash to those in the aforesaid Hellhammer mixed with certain characteristics of Motorhead’s Lemmy. My personal favorite track of the album, “Armored Fists” follows. A crazy guitar driven intro and aggressive vocals alert the listener of what is to come. Hexx is an improviser and a magnificent riff machine, so well oiled that riffs, each so catchy and so thrashy backed with such power that they bring you down to your knees! “Morbid Crimes” and “Infernal Screams” are other tracks worth mentioning. Consistency and energy flows through this band and these tracks definitely have some early Hellhammer worship in them. The only weak track here is “Last Rites” which even though has a good riff, the track becomes very monotonous just after 3 minutes of listening.

The production is similar to that of a black\thrash record. The production quality is kept quite low to give that vibe we all know so well in black\thrash and this ejects another shot of raw power in the band.

2008 has been an awesome year and releases like these just are the icing on the cake.

Dirty thrash metal - 97%

DYNAROUGE, January 3rd, 2009

Trench Hell – Southern Cross Ripper

Originally formed as a side project by Hexx, Trench Hell as become somewhat of a phenomenon in the underground metal scene, despite only having released a demo and an EP. The founder of the band, Hexx, has played in Nocturnal Graves, Gospel Of The Horns, and as a session member in Toxic Holocaust, so he’s been around the block a few times. Their 2004 demo, Alcoholic Disaster, was recorded in only a few hours by himself and Jarro. After the overwhelming response the demo received, Hexx decided it was about time to for the next Trench Hell release, which would eventually be released on vinyl and CD in 2008.

Trench Hell play extremely dirty thrash metal, similar to Hellhammer (they even do a Hellhammer cover on their demo). It’s not black/thrash metal, but it’s still tremendously raw. Out of everything, the guitar and the vocals stand out the most on this release. The drums are extremely effective – heavy, fast and an overall relentless force. However, you won’t find anything that stands out or that could be deemed original, because there’s really not much variation from song to song. Having said that, it works out nicely, because the listener’s attention is focused more on the vocals and guitar, which are outstanding on this EP. The vocals definitely have some Hellhammer worship in them – no screams here, instead a rough, evil voice speaking the lyrics, very similar to the Hellhammer demos. The guitar is definitely the best part of this EP though. Raw production combined with a very old school tone (almost a bit southern sounding) make for some incredibly memorable riffs (and the occasional face-melting guitar solo). All of the songs on this album are top notch, but the last track, ‘Infernal Screaming’ really stands out above the rest. It starts out with some fast riffing, then transitions smoothly a blistering guitar solo that will rip your face off, and finally ends with the chilling sounds of wind blowing, and in the last few seconds, a girl screaming. Out of all the songs on the EP, ‘Infernal Screaming’ really sums up what Trench Hell is all about in three minutes and twelve seconds.

Trench Hell are similar to Hellhammer, but certainly not a clone. It’s amazing that such a young band has managed to develop a sound that is entirely their own in the span of only a few releases. Hexx has a lot of talent, and I eagerly await future releases by this fantastic band.