Soaring out of the gutter with a nuclear howl and barking their radiation down a puke splattered alley for a half hour beyond Tokyo, Japan-based speed metalpunk quintet VERDALACK introduce themselves as a blunt instrument of aggression and an anthemic force on this inspired debut full-length album. Though you’ve probably heard similar concoct of wild heavy metal noise and punk-inflected speed metal these folks do well to leave a dent with ‘Force From the Grave‘, not only for the sake of the hammer that anchors their action but all that they do to grip the listener by the ear and shout down their throat. The level of cacophonic metalpunk hurl ripping through this debut does a lot to sustain interest here but there is a solid heavy metal album firing off amidst the kicking roar of it all.

Verdalack formed back in 2022 between former members of speed/thrash metal band Assault Attack who’d been active in the late 2010’s and eventually produced two mediocre demos. In addition to the two guitarists and vocalist from that previous incarnation they’d brought in folks from Significant Point and Military Shadow and re-recorded their previous band’s debut demo ‘Rites of Hell‘ (2022) soon after. The suggested inspiration for this band has changed slightly beyond their past lives as the core of mid-80’s speed metal tropes still manifests as basal activity but on newer material they’ve incorporated the unnerved spirit of Japanese hardcore punk/metalpunk as well as some of the Priest inspired attitude of 80’s United States power metal. In fact I’d assume the name of the band comes from a late album track on Tyrant‘s classic ‘Too Late to Pray‘, using the same form of word referring to a specific Slavic vampire mythos. Though we can generally consider this a speed metal band the character of this debut primarily comes from their punkish, barking attack and some choice breaks into traditional heavy metal guitar work.

‘Force From the Grave‘ leads with Verdalack‘s new found strength via opener “Axehead” bringing anthemic heavy metal into a blunted metalpunk, or, late 80’s Japanese hardcore punk infused trample and it reads something like Loud Night or Speedwolf if they were bigger on revivalist speed metal like Vulture and prone to whip out leads more often. There is a certain level of chaos conjured by vocalist Villain (Military Shadow) both in terms of his full-chested bark and the number of echoic effects applied and this’d end up being one of my favorite characteristics of this record in that he uses a NWOBHM/speed metal derived sense of melody much of the time, not exactly a ‘Where Legend Began‘ sort of affair in terms of characterization of songs (and riffs…) but I figure any fan of English Dogs or Warfare (U.K.) will appreciate when and where he goes over the top.

On a quick pass through you could probably get away with accusing the band of rinsing-and-reusing the general modus of the album opener for a somewhat samey ~half hour record but the variations do eventually show up (re: Hallow’s Eve-meets-Exploited burner “Blood Eagle”) and all songs task the band with keeping the momentum kicking hard no matter where their sub-genre ratio swerves. “Desecrator” is probably the most machined through and simple example of Verdalack‘s ideal here though you’ll generally find better heavy metal songs the deeper you step down into their crypt. In fact Side B kinda smokes the shit out of Side A in terms of guitar slinging, speed metal anthemic metalpunk action starting with my favorite piece here “Final Assault”, a song which appeals to me for the unruly 80’s battery positioned behind it, the solos which develop over the course, and the sheer militance they’ve applied in representing the song, as titled. Otherwise the title track (“Force From the Grave”) replicates a similar formula but works in an early Voivod riff to start before barreling through the shrieking corridor of the song, leaning into power metal apropos leads towards the end.

If you’re well equipped with decades of knowledge per Japanese hardcore/metalpunk and speed metal the novelty might not be as potent but I’d felt Verdalack manage some convincing action for the majority of the full listen, maybe losing some steam around the title track. The band’s ouevre is limited to pretty simple alchemical forms (80’s metal and hardcore punk) in exchange and that’ll be enough to carry most folks through but the last couple of songs which cap off the album only ping in mind for the sake of the vocalist upping the shrieks here and there. I will say that I’d appreciated they’d given us an official best version of “Rites of Hell” as it must be one of the earliest songs they’d written for Assault Attack in the ~2010’s.

The big deal here for my own taste really boils down to the right ratio of heavy metal capability (have riffs/can shred) matching up with some real interest/taste in exaggerated forms of 80’s hardcore and this isn’t limited to the riffs alone but also the rusty-ass sound design applied. It may be a blunt, overly focused record but that ends up being the right stuff when carrying the 80’s underground in mind. That authentic hammer handed bark-and-shriek through is a big part of Verdalack‘s appeal, I mean they’d do well to switch things up more often the second time around but the energy of this stuff is convincing enough. I’ll definitely remember who they are when they reappear. A moderately high recommendation.

---