Invoking the power of the blasphemer via occult rites in order to fuel their venomous conquest beyond the maw of the abyss Santiago, Chile-based black metal quartet HELLAVENGER spread a message of doom over all men on this first full-length of evil thrash metal infused horror. A natural continuation of the momentum built via their second demo tape these folks still live and die by the blade of pure South American extreme metal on ‘The Primordial Fire‘ where their focus on death-thrashing muscle and wrathful black metal casts spiteful intents and relentless possession upon only the most keen-eared listener. Traditional in their ‘old school’ inspiration but not flatly imitative these fellowes go on undaunted by the meaningless drain-circling movements of modernity, conveying their own vision of the ultimate evil heavy metal via inspired riffcraft and horrified atmosphere.

Hellavenger was formed circa 2011 by way of musician Hellavenger who’d been involved in the early formation of Communion and featured on the first demo tape from death/thrash metal band Deathwards before setting out on his own. On his own the singular vision of the band paid dues to Venom and ‘Show No Mercy‘-era Slayer with an incredible debut demo tape (‘Lord of the Burning Abyss‘, 2019) as it was clear his tastes and intent lie within the primitive force of 80’s black metal and the thrashing edge of the first wave idea. This alone might’ve drained down into just cool riffs but he also had the capability to dictate a meaningful lead guitar strike, setting his work well above the usual pretenders. There was true heavy metal in the blood on that tape as there has been in each of the works he’d been involved with prior.

By the time their second demo tape (‘The Primordial Flame‘, 2021) released the band expanded into a quartet with folks involved in Ceremonial and Force of Darkness and the band’s sound mutated into something still primitive and thrashing but faceted with elements the extreme underground wouldn’t have heard until the late 80’s/early 90’s. Echoing vocal snarl, rattling garage-level drums, and mean-as-Hell riffs make that second tape just as memorable as the first, a loud and clear indication for the direction that ‘The Primordial Fire‘ would take. Even more propulsive sounds, a focus on summoning evil and occult subjects in revolt against Christendom, and inspiration taken from both speed metal and early death metal defined this shift but the root was a thrash metal-era black metal attack. You’d not mistake any of this on the first half of that tape, “The Forbidden Shrine”, which also leads the charge into this album with its Teutonic thrash riffs and almost ‘Unbound‘-era Merciless feeling take on extended ‘Pleasure to Kill‘ style riffcraft. While we still feel the ‘old school’ blood of Hellavenger in these songs as a main component this new version of their sound has input from the full lineup as far as I understand.

That said the first song is just one facet of six main pieces here, three of which receive a ~30-60 second introductory track from a variety of guests including Irrwycht (Grabunhold, Baxaxaxa), Neradiza (Aragon, Holy Death) and Umbrae Magun (Anticristo, Behead Christ) all of which demonstrate some manner of inspiration taken from classic horror soundtracks. Up front I’d felt the way the album played recalled the first LP from Acheron in spirit but the style still intending to bear its roots in obscure evil thrash and early black metal rather than Florida death metal. This becomes more obvious as we step into the major highlight of the album beyond the opener with the pairing of “Gleam of a Dark Summoning” and “Sacrilegious Rites”, where we get this altered Venom-esque riff on the former which to me speaks the language of bands like Desaster where the stomp of this song is distinctly heavy metal in its bones but given to malevolent extremes. Shadow-stepped blasts, clangorous bass guitar tone, and a dive-bombed lead closes the door before the speed metal fed rip of “Sacrilegious Rites” hits, a song which is not only memorable by might earn this album a black/thrash metal tag from a few listeners.

From the first song to the last two things are evident here, at least to my ear, in that the riff cutters here understand the intensity of albums inspired by records like ‘Schizophrenia‘ but also feature the madness of drummer The Dead from Force of Darkness and this is a particularly insane match up when it comes to writing mean-assed five minute thrash metal songs. The stuff on this record most likely to inspire real violence comes a bit later where the blazing punishment of “Consecration of Doom” rattles the skull with its percussive stamping and the scrambling runs and pick-scraping will to power of “Sempiternal Terror” thread some 80’s death metal spiritus into their hits. Use of subtle vocal effects, such as trailing echo, feels entirely classic in detail adding to the surreal intensity of each song all of which rely on the anxious wrath of late 80’s thrash metal riffing to hold their frenzied pace.

It might be important for some to note that there are a few different versions of this album. The initial release from Hellavenger was an independent cassette tape produced in very limited quantities and spread among compatriots for promotion, a unique item which was picked up for cassette and CD release earlier this year. In fact this album was recorded back in 2022 with this vinyl version only just now being made real a couple of years later. While I’d personally waited for the vinyl edition it is worth noting that the additional interlude, “Transcending to an Immortal Glory”, from Umbrae Magun wasn’t included on the original band-released tape but is part of each official release (cassette and CD) beyond 2023.

As expected Hellavenger represent the ‘old school’ underground on their debut full-length album, knowing that to create true “primordial black metal” art that access to dark traditions and blasphemic history is the only way to avoid dry reproductions of the late first/early second wave styles of black metal. In this sense fanatics for dark South American thrash and death metal, be it warfare noise or otherwise, should appreciate the care given to this album’s sound and arrangement. Of course this means the guitar work is exceptional throughout and attempts no real innovation beyond definition of the self. With this in mind they’ve done a fantastic job of drawing the line from where the project began with its first tape ’til now as their work increases in its intensity without losing the distinction between each song. For my own taste this is a sublime study on the dementia of the craft, a loud and willful defiance which speaks to its core philosophy within every song and doesn’t present a single flippant or careless moment throughout. A high recommendation.

---