Unspeakable tongues spiral in mouth as the white-eyed victims of unseen horrors deliver lip wrenching accounts of unthinkable beings still lurking in the midst. Clutching their fingers through the smoke-filled air and brandishing all manner of riff against the grayed phosphorescent eyes peering through the darkness Barcelona, Spain-based death-thrashing speed metal trio EMISSARY take a bardic defense on this neck-wrenching, kinda swingin’ debut full-length album spinning unbelievable tales of unknown realms as their main affront against the beyond. ‘Eldritch‘ is a sinister warning delivered through ancient dark underground thrash metal gallop, a tongue wagging omen from natural storytellers with a taste for late 80’s riffcraft and ‘evil’ speed metal tension. At the root of all the vile, sulfur spouting doomsayer’s creed coughed in ear is a brilliant left handed knack for traditional heavy metal braced tunefulness, taut and diabolic threads which cling to the brain, inspiring lantern swinging paranoia and neck testing thresh.

Emissary formed as a duo in late 2023 between guitarist/vocalist Michel Regueiro and drummer Hlib Overhuck who’d spent about a year getting their shit together before adding a second guitarist, Philip Graves and quickly getting to work on this album. Their directive this far has been to create an appropriate vehicle for their cosmic horror themes, music intense enough to convey the action of their Lovecraftian tales which is also readable. What this means for the sub-genre fanatic is actually surprising enough something like death-thrash metal in the spirit of Celtic Frost‘s speed-metallic movement and focus on the riff but… also deep appreciation for the nuances of classic late 80’s thrash metal from Germany and the United States underground. While I think it is worthwhile to course through what this band sounds like and what sort of listener will be most piqued by it’s delivery the big deal here up front is that these guys can not only write a solid riff but they’ve some appreciable ability to write a damn bardic thrash metal song around it.

Instead of thinking of a band like the ultra M.I.A. Matterhorn, which would be fair to start, or going all the way up to Bifrost (Netherlands) in terms of spinning a good yarn next to a great riff instead dial your shit all the way back to a mix of the New Renaissance Records type sound (Dream Death, Post Mortem, Blood Feast) where the story told was typically horror, its impact depended on highly repeatable riffs and the tension of speed metal held it all together. What these folks bring to the table has some of that tradition in it’s blood but to juice the gears their riffcraft invokes Deathrow (or, I.N.C.‘s ‘Razorback‘?) as much as it does Deceased at times, not quite as charismatic as the latter but thoughtful as the former in developing rhythms that escalate in their tension dependent on the way the song plays out. “Door the the Mystical” is maybe the quickest, most straight to the point introduction to this sound and it’s mid-80’s heavy/speed metal armor and rasping vocal. Sure, the rhythms are the body here, and those specific riffs are still on my brain like a grease fire, but the howling head in a jar provided by Regueiro really is the big point of personae per this experience and the main reason I’d returned for many a ride through.

From the first song (“Eternity Bound“) we get gang-shouted horror and on the second we get a group sun chorus and this isn’t the extent of the anthemic mid-to-late 80’s underground speed metal sensibilities of Emissary who have some kind of outright hook and/or chorus jammed out of each song. You’ll have “…car-co-sa!” rallying in mind before you sleep at night after hearing “The Shadows Lengthen in Carcosa” and join in on death’s dance as key single “At the Throne of Chaos” (and “Hobb’s End” right after it) sports an early Running Wild snarl and takes it to a death metal brawl, not necessarily full on ‘Incorrigible Bigotry‘ but an intensely memorable song with some of that ‘Journey into Mystery‘ feeling barked dread leading the way alongside the main verse riff. This album is all action in this sense, there is a riff one the way before you’ve had time to whip your neck at the last, as they’re intentionally gearing up their action for the sake of depicting a passage into a nightmare realm, a madness the victim has no chance of perceiving in themselves.

Before I’d necessarily assigned Emissary an 80’s death metal tag (Horror speed-death metal?) they’d proven themselves a great heavy metal band based on Side A of ‘Eldritch‘, though the second half finds few new places to venture and instead completed the thought at the same intensity. Their rant hasn’t ended on Side B as the storyline intensifies, both guitarists are still patrolling the dim-lit shores of terror stricken riffs and barking command, and they’ve not shifted focus so much as leaned a bit more thrash in their step leaning into the intricacies of their rhythms more than catchier moments; At ~34 minutes in length and eight songs ‘Eldritch‘ isn’t all business but they’ve left out any/all unnecessary bullshit and delivered a “thrash/death” album that should burst in the mind of seasoned classic thrash metal fans seeking obscure darkness with a distinct 80’s extreme feeling. Their work reaches for its own niche among niches in a way which is incredibly well personalized and delivered without any real hesitation despite the band having formed less than two years ago. If they don’t overthink it and keep it this tight I’m in, pretty much an instant fan. A high recommendation.

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