Wicked abominations birthed from new blood spilled at auld sites of sacrifice now haunt the dark fantasy realm of Brisbane, Australia-based thrash metal quartet MAGES TERROR who’d present their first spell in the form of this debut full-length album, a classicist article rife with their own vision of malice-filled magickry. ‘Damnation’s Sight‘ absorbs the high standards of guitar authorship per late 80’s extreme-thrashing mastery and writes its own hissing and flapping daemonic bestiary by way of riff-obsession construct, tuneful yet rapaciously delivered command of the arcane ways. While it’d be enough to survive on points of style and authenticity alone today what remains remarkable about this work is its level of craft wherein each detail approaches in service to the song as well as the outsized personae of the group who only ever sling the vintage evil from their staves with death-dealing conviction.

Mages Terror formed at some point prior to 2023 from the mind of Illogium, the fellowe behind influential experimental death metal band Portal and current second guitarist for Vomitor, where an exploration of classic speed metal and arcane 80’s death lead his work down this path of riff and dark high fantasy ruin. The complete line-up includes Pustilence vocalist/guitarist Stillborn who takes on rasped, Sadus-esque timbre here in addition to the bass guitar performances and he brings along current lead guitarist Rotten (see also: Rottenanatomy) who trades off lead duties with Illogium throughout the album. Between the frequent lead guitar directive and imposing lead vocals the main voice for ‘Damnation’s Sight‘ is venomous, wrathful yet surreal in its remarkably traditional yet personalized vision of pure late 80’s thrash metal with a sinister touch.

One could’ve seen the helter skelter on the wall when their first demo tape (‘Vulgar Overlord‘, 2023) released with three largely complete pieces in proper 4-track recorded form that the raw rhythmic essence of the band centers around a frantic, diabolic yet not so harried form of thrash that features a level of care given to its riffcraft that transcends many suggested “black/thrash” peers today thanks to a deep understanding of the mechanics of 80’s heavy metal and.. not the usual extremophilic ‘brutal’ simplification of popular thrash. ‘Damnation’s Sight‘ reads as memorable for its intricately lain grooves, interruptive strikes and taut interplay with the rhythm section which includes the impressive kit work from C.Y. of Consummation and earlier Mongrel’s Cross. There are only a few references I’d lined-up in mind when making this point to start but the first is ‘Morbid Reality‘-era Hexx and even if there is a bit more “swing” to that albums escalating riff style the gamut, the colonnade that it covers in terms of tension and release via its death-speed metal force applies here in different strokes. Mention of Sabbat (U.K.) and Infernäl Mäjesty elsewhere for reference suggest early post-‘Hell Awaits‘ grooves and high-rate riffcraft though I would head into this record expecting (again) a slightly more percussive, violent late 80’s style which verges on but never crosses over into early 90’s black and death extremes.

The long-standing evil thrash metal connoisseur could easily become overwhelmed with the details here, and each song counts as vital ghouls to the greater Mages Terror haunt, the step into opener “Serpent Bat” should speak loud enough as a representative statement up front. The supernatural toxin-choked rasp that introduces the song is black magick itself, an ancient effect that hisses back in as the opening riff draws a crooked Voivod-esque line before the shotgun fire starts around~1:10 minutes in. As the main rhythmic dynamic forms the punched-at groove and its refrain alongside the reverbed smack of the snare recall the more Bay Area-esque stabs of albums like ‘Psychological Torment‘ sans the group shouted pulls and with quick-change riffcraft keeping us on-heel in following their barrage. Imposing as the narration and the rhythmic charge of it all this is only just the soldiering in, the fist breaking through the crust of the earth, and from this point the first four songs on ‘Damnation’s Sight‘ are energetic, blazing and outsized in their personae.

‘Damnation’s Sight‘ is a riff album, a classic thrash metal record first and foremost. — “Paramount Specter Dust” illustrates the level of craft necessary for a circa 1987 thrash metal band to stand out, where the realm was dominated by Kreator and Celtic Frost‘s arguable best and the pre-’85 build Venom-ous intensity extreme metal would foment toward its inevitable psychotic break-out. We’re talking about liner notes that give credit per guitar solo, Possessed logo t-shirts, and use of percussive palm muting and madly whirling lead guitar runs to add texture to speed/thrash metal riffcraft that’d been well-explored ’til that point. In this sense an early Coroner fan would appreciate the attack of this song and the slower, maze-like riff madness of standout “Fane of the Slug Gods”. Between those two songs this album became and obsession, the kind of rhythm that gets me to pick up a guitar and try out the timing on their multi-phasic, hypnotic movements. I do not think it is by chance that I’m back in the nerd-cave of late 80’s thrash metal thought and dicking around with a slightly out of tune guitar here as the sound design on this album (incl. mixing by Portal‘s Aphotic Mote) feels expertly attuned to the right level of classic thrash metal violence but without burying the bass guitar tone or flattening the richness of the drum’s presence as the interplay of each of these elements is a big part of Mages Terror‘s appeal.

So, you get it at this point: They’ve got riffs, not only that but these guitar-forward compositions have brought their own character to a traditional approach which suits the theme and dark fantasy aesthetic of the band well while serving forceful and neck-whipping focus. This comes without resorting to double-bass drum rollouts or blasting second wave black metal harass. So, while one could broadly consider the vocals blackened and the riffs death/thrash adjacent there is no avoiding that this is an 80’s heavy metal spell cast and what fully sets this off comes via the aforementioned use of lead guitar skill to develop that flash-ridden yet sinister personae suggested. Passing from instrumental mid-album palate cleanse “Presage” into the shred heavy “The Vomited Harvest” is the best time to start paying attention to the two guitarist’s lead styles which range from runs which choose occasionally distracted paths to more melodic mid-80’s which frame the melody inherent to any given son or its main rhythmic progression into a shorter stylized ripper. The first lead that crops up within “Master in the Black Cavern” is a fine example of just how much these solos can ‘make’ a piece that much more effective and, in this case leading up to one of the heaviest stamping grooves on the album in the process. By the end of the experience you might be keen enough to begin to tell each guitarist’s style apart though it’d taken me a few runs to sort this out myself.

From the ‘newer’ pieces to the songs that’d featured on the demo tape you can see a bit of an evolution happening over the course of the album where a more primitively chunking groove might butt up against the higher notes-per-minute violence of others so, not all precedence for this record lies in the rawness of a song like “Vulgar Overlord” but you can tell they’d hit a sweet spot on those earlier pieces and built up this album around that vibe and to the point that ‘Damnation’s Sight‘ feels like a well-rounded thought, a violent but still high precision document of their ideal which still has riffs to cut and venom to spray as we reach the title track/closer, one of the best pieces on the album for my own taste. This means we’ve hit no real filler points, no exhaustion of that core idea, and a ~36 minute thrash metal record that insists upon repeat listens for what a classic yet personage-ridden ride it is. Again, the full listen was an obsession from the start on my end and I’d been thoroughly surprised to find the depths still calling for blood throughout the second half of the record.

As often as we find music in service to the zeitgeist of classic 80’s heavy metal and the ebb toward the exciting extremes the mid-to-late portion of the decade would provide it is rare that we modern day equivalents that’d directly tribute the modus rather than the specific accomplishments of one or two well-known artists. In the case of Mages Terror the core appeal on my end was this ability to take up the scepter, gain its knowledge and author work conscious of more than fundamental structures and generalizations, reaching for a distinct rhythmic texture and attack built from tenets and marked with their own grasp of ancient evil rather than serving up halfway-studied strictures. Beyond authenticity and personage there is something to be said for a great goddamned riff and ‘Damnation’s Sight‘ is a purple and black glowing oasis in this respect, not only that but they’ve written memorable pieces which strike fast and hot at their point so that this record might go on repeating its cursed spells ad infinitum. For my own taste it is one of the more inspired pieces of thrash-adjacent craft in recent memory. A very high recommendation.

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