I often think solo artists in the Metal world don’t amount to a great deal, Bruce’s solo work is no Maiden, the same can be said for Halford and Priest, and thus the list goes on. Even someone like Ihashn can seldom live up to Emperor levels (although his solo stuff is top tier, and sometimes better) but now we get the solo works of Hellbutcher, or at least a new offshoot band from Nifelheim under the name of Hellbutcher. This album came a bit out of nowhere but I’m absolutely here for it, I love Nifelheim so anything that sounds like them is a winner. Here we have the self-titled album Hellbutcher put out through Metal Blade Records, can it break the solo project curse?
Oozing with Heavy Metal, Powerslave-like flare at its intro The Sword Of Wrath soon opens up into a swirling hell of Blackened Thrash. Hellbutcher’s iconic vocals soon rasp in with memorable aggressive Black Thrash destruction. Perdition follows on offering up further Thrashing madness, it reminds me a lot of early Kreator and that’s by no means a bad thing. It remains catchy, more frantic than the album’s opener but nonetheless brilliant. Keeping things rolling is Violent Destruction which retains that signature Nifelhiem memorability, essentially by extension this is practically another Nifelhiem album and I’ve got no issue with that whatsoever. Amping up the evil sound comes Hordes Of The Horned God, a song that exudes Metal, the kind of sound to fit the meme ‘what my parents think I listen to’, fantastic stuff. For such a Thrash rooted record it must also be noted that the melodic nature prevails and in a successful way. The guitars and bass bring so much to the table with their lick of classic Heavy Metal flare.
Getting into the second half comes Death’s Rider, this song has an almost Motörhead grit to it, pulling once again from those classic Metal influences. The bass generally feels more aggressive and less galloping, showing a degree of variation. Kicking back into the Maiden sound is Possessed By The Devil’s Flames, another strong song bolstering an already, essentially flawless album. Satan’s Power proves further that Hellbutcher has more to give, not a single song on this album is dull. I mean I think Black Thrash works extraordinarily well, you only have to look at the rise of Midnight to see that, and this is no different. Closing proceedings is Inferno’s Rage, and yeah, you guessed it, it’s another banger, honestly I can’t fault it.
So if you like Nifelheim, or just Black Thrash for that matter then this is a must listen. It really feels like an all encompassing love letter to ‘trve’ Metal, and sometimes I just need to feed the elitist in me. It’s essentially another Nifelheim record so I do feel as though the songs could basically have just been saved for a new album from them, but it’s absolutely on par with Nifelheim’s material, good job Hellbutcher. I always say that extreme music lends itself so well to memorability and catchy choruses and this album has that in abundance.
(10/10 George Caley)
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