Thrashing Heavy Metal

Sweden has long harbored a prolific scene of great black/death/thrashing metal bands. Bewitched, Maze of Torment and Witchery all spring immediately to mind. It will come as no surprise then, that Deceiver, with a few ex-members of Maze of Torment, joins these ranks with their third album. Aside from its blunt and silly title, Thrashing Heavy Metal is a great album, loaded with thrash hooks and twisted, sick vocals of Pete Flesh.

"The Tail's of Whom in Shadows Fall" inaugurates the album with a crisp, mid-paced tempo. "Ghost of Souls & Inner Hate" is a more aggressive thrasher, you can hear the influence of bands like Kreator and Destruction, and its got a catchy hook in the verse. "Graveyard Lover" opens with slow and creepy chords, then alternates some up-tempo thrashing with slower verse. "Coma of Death Intoxication" rides off a very old school NWOBHM influence, driven by bone-crunched thrash verse. Other highlights include the driving "Dead to the World" and "Legacy". The remainder of the album was marginally less fun, but still solidly written.

The tone here is great, very bright thrashing notes, good bass plodding along under it and the vocals and drums sit perfectly into the mix. If you enjoy your Swedish thrash with the death metal influence (primarily the vocals) and some earlier British metal then Deceiver belongs in your collection right alongside Witchery.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

Deceiver shares a similar biography many groups have plagiarized before: a few music-hungry individuals jam a little, begin writing material, release some stuff, and then cease to exist some time later. Deceiver, however, makes this observation deplorable. After all, “Thrashing Heavy Metal” truly deserves a cult following, or at least a few good-hearted listens within our fantastic community. It’s a real shame a lot of folks in the metal world have never experienced Deceiver before the Swedish trio called it a day and discontinued activity after the release of “Thrashing Heavy Metal.” Yet in their mass obscurity, I can confirm these guys were the real deal; totally ambitious and driven, this record is a fine slab of rabid fierceness eager to attack until the victim is a microscopic mess via thrash and death like the purists dream of.

I do find the title rather amusing for what it is; it’s certainly a bold name for an album as compared to some generic moniker relating to typical stereotypes found in metal: “Thrashing Heavy Metal.” Nice and warm. Musically, the trio revolves around the album’s title in the truest sense, properly bobbing between Venom-laden worship and traditional heavy metal that showcases essential soloing, masterful riffs both turbocharged and mid-paced, technical percussion, husky rasps, and an overall sense of catchiness that is simply excellent. Although these ideas are simple in writing, Deceiver juices the two sounds to absolute wonder, leaving not a single sense of boredom or disdain towards this great offering. It would be, however, incredibly inaccurate to assume this title mocks its origin and style, because Deceiver is animalistic to the bone, and in summary fully represents thrashing heavy metal to its absolute definition.

The real goods though are found throughout the CD’s individually fit tunes that slice and churn Deceiver’s asphyxiating style of thrash/heavy metal into filling cuts that are like children: each one special in its own way. Mid-paced slaughterhouses like “Blood of the Soul” or “Graveyard Lover” demonstrate a whooping emphasis on the slower formulas, only turned into a cohesive and enjoyable atmosphere that sends a haunting message alongside Deceiver’s bloodthirsty musicianship in separate ways than the faster tunes, making them especially unique towards the grandeur of “Thrashing Heavy Metal.” Yet the title track or something like “Machinery of God” also charge along these lines, demonstrating individualistic perspectives consistently although on a totally different spectrum, whether it be the instrumental rhythm or time-signatures altering the musical direction. However, the slithering magnitude is never lost or derailed, but remains at its absolute culmination, never ceasing the attack.

Deceiver’s final record is heavy fucking metal with no gimmicks or trivial bullshit; it’s royally done with an injection of death, fire, Hell, fast guitars, pounding drums, demonic vocals, and a sense of honor. Besides the fantastic gratitude provided throughout each and every song, “Thrashing Heavy Metal” has heart unlike many bands that appeal to second-rate melodic death metal or groove poop for the mainstream Dobermans, and Deceiver went six feet under with a short-lived legacy still intact; morbid and valorous, this one will not deceive the true taste of metal. If you need something that sticks itself outside the norms of modern metal while adjoining multiple edges that are indeed satisfying, I say look no further.

This review was written for: www.Thrashpit.com