Faced with a corrupted, mutilated womb programmed to ceaselessly birth malformed mindless adversaries through biomechanical slurry and bolts of grey computerized thought Catalonia-based black/thrash metal band Körgull the Exterminator raise their guns, arm-swords, and spiked apparatus to the mouth of foulest modern day abomination and saw the body of cancerous spillage down to a splattered gestational centre. That isn’t to say that these long time classicists are at war with the false-generative machinery of today but that the quintet’s sixth full-length album remains steadfast yet refined by the higher standards of old. ‘Built to Kill‘ should be a not-so shocking thrill for fans of black-thrash metal which retains its psychic connection with the 80’s and in doing so manages to feels right at home alongside the rest of their discography’s steady evolution.

Körgull the Exterminator formed circa 2004 by the hand of Joe Bastard of Akerbelz who’d intended it to be a side project after accumulating songs of a certain style which did not fit his vision for his main solo project. Eventually guitarist Mark Wild (Whirlwind) and vocalist Lilith Necrobitch were recruited and those first four pieces were recorded for a split CD with Galician die-hards Morbid Yell in a cold, raw and noisome style that spoke to the cacophony of earlier Nifelheim, not far from Venom skanked thrash like Sabbat and the nearby tradition of Aura Noir and Desaster where first wave black/speed metal’s rocking side hadn’t resolved with the serious face of early-to-mid 90’s black metal. Those first sessions were teeming with unfettered feeling, even a bit of accomplished bass guitar presence from session work by Drizzt of Empty. This rawness would carry on as the most noxious, bestial era of the band per their debut LP (‘Dogs of War‘, 2009) and perhaps the true arrival of their signature with ‘War of the Voivodes‘ in 2010. These were cold, raw and true underground black/thrash metal releases which’d notably not conformed to the dead-end pizza thrash revival of the 2000’s and gained a bit of notice from folks like Fenriz as they plugged along with their third album (‘Metal Fist Destroyer‘, 2013). It is worth suggesting their work as uglier, nastier but still traditional evil thrash metal at that point but there was just enough polish applied to that third album that it will naturally feel like a landmark as you tour through their body of work thus far. Consider that album the end of their true Mark I era as longtime bassist Steel Maniac left.

Körgull the Exterminator are metal heads who enjoy hanging out and rehearsing together, so, no doubt the chemistry of the band on record is kinetic, warm yet aggressive and charged with its own collective energy. They were certainly having fun on their first few records but as we step into ‘Reborn From the Ashes‘ (2015), a politically charged album focused on the Catalan identity under corrupt (bankrupted) Spanish leadership it was clear the involvement of new bassist and engineer/producer Javi Bastard brought something new out of the band. As far as I can recall “Traitor’s Gate” was the first song where both Voivod and Motörhead influences kinda hit their riff repertoire in an obvious way and elsewhere on the album an ’85 Razor cover and greater sense of speed metal infused precision made for perhaps their best critical reception up ’til that point. It’d been the album where I’d jumped on board and the main reason I’d been hyped for ‘Sharpen Your Spikes‘ back in 2020 when I’d given short review of that album; The main takeaway gleaned from revisiting the discography of the band is that they represent a classic approach to extreme thrash metal, have incorporated speed/heavy metal veins into their monster over time, and have touched upon more direct strikes of black metal aggression on their two most recent full-lengths.

‘Built to Kill‘ nonetheless differs from ‘Sharpen Your Spikes‘ with a slightly more open sense of space given to its render and a punkish cut to certain key pieces, both of which give it a certain epic-thrashing stature but most importantly imbues the high riff count with a feeling of loft, new points to attack from. This damned thing is powder keg of hustling speed and 80’s metal energy even beyond its insistence on cutting throngs of black/thrashed riffcraft. This extends the life of their focus even further beyond 2013 where the rhythms count a bit more and now form distinct songs which are more than the requisite vessels for fiery energy. In fact, I was kind of surprised to find Körgull the Exterminator are still explosive as all Hell and kicking it ‘old school’ evil thrash on this record. “Existential Risk” is probably my favorite example up front where that sort of metalpunk-era Voivod push meets with a scowling Holy Moses-esque vocal takes things to a cruelly anthemic stretch of road. They’ve also got shrieking burn n’ barreling attackers to cut through (“Built to Kill”, “Death to Human Race”, et al.) throughout which uphold the crazed sense of energetic discharge which very few bands in this style tend to hold together in the space of six full-lengths.

The strongest hits of black metal, such as the main verse riffs for opener “The Devil’s Saga” and closer “Count Estruch”, are never so pronounced or out of place thanks to their pure heavy metal underpinnings, a certain ‘epic’ black metal sensation one might get from Desaster or Immortal depending on the moment but translated into the irreverent, unhinged movement of Körgull the Exterminator‘s emphasis on the variety available to this form of hybrid classicism. The part of my brain that’d returned to ‘Built to Kill‘ for several more listens beyond the first was admittedly not the black metal nodule but the mayhemic thrash fandom where the belligerence of the band quickly reveals a classic sense of tact and (again) energetic purpose. We’re not getting a ton of these sorts of black/thrash metal records anymore, and few of any real note, but for my own taste these folks have always had the right spirit and continue to uphold high standards for the riff as it relates to the tuneful yet sinister side of thrash metal. Gauge your enthusiasm accordingly. A high recommendation.

---