Hellspike – Lords of War

Hellspike

‘Lords of War’

Metal on Metal Records

Speed/Thrash Metal

FFO: Destruction, Kreator, Ravensire, Necromonicon, Iron Angel, Living Death, Sabbat

It has been little over a year since Hellspike formed, but the Lisbon band have hit the ground running; formed by members of Inquisitor, Filii Nigrantium Infernalium and Ironsword among others, they have delivered Hellspike’s debut album, ‘Lords of War’.

                This is the sound of a band who are seasoned professionals; they have already cut their teeth and with ‘Lords of War’, those teeth are primed and ready for action. Hellspike have laid their cards out on the table and shown that these guys know how to write metal that blends speed and thrash perfectly. Therefore, ‘Lords of War’ oozes with that European thrash brutally that is best compared to the likes of Destruction and Kreator with vocalist Rick Metal doing a decent impression of Schmier at times, particularly during ‘Titans’ Clash’, ‘Storm of Fear’ and the excellent ‘House of Asterion’. However, the accolades here go to the title track, a song so scathing, just listening to it threatens to create a revenant. However, two instrumentals on a debut album are a little excessive and although technically very good, they wouldn’t be missed if they wasn’t there and there is no guilt required when hitting the skip button.

                For a debut album, ‘Lords of War’ is very good, it shows clear direction of where the band are going and ‘Lords of War’ may not set the world on fire, but there is something here for every fan of speed and thrash metal.

Adam McCann