Vehemency It’s rare to stumble upon this lo-fi sounding old school thrashing black/death metal when it comes to promotional items sent to reviewers, but Hellscourge’s debut Hell’s Wrath Battalion is a refreshing exception, being a really dirty, rehearsal quality album that could have very well been recorded straight to an analogue tape twenty years ago.

And how do I love when bands have the guts to put out this filthy metal with balls! Think of Sodom’s early years, Sarcófago and all the other daring acts and when the distinction between death, black and thrash wasn’t so evident. This is what these 32 minutes offer. Ass kicking riffs and a plenty of solos, barbaric drumming and vocals that are a mix of black metal raspiness and heavy metal power. At times, the rusty production reminds me of Deathspell Omega’s Infernal Battles quite a lot actually, just with a more old school attitude.

A golden production doesn’t, however, justify unmemorable compositions. This is not to say that Hell’s Wrath Battalion would suck at any point, but perhaps they could have crafted something more into the songs that, in their current state, are all good but none rise to total victory. Nonetheless, Hell’s Wrath Battalion is a wholeheartedly welcome assault of convinving old school metal that is here to remind us again what metal is all about, against the dominating swarms of hipster black metal fusion groups.