Depicted as soldiers of the abyss, devils in their own realm, Croatian black/death-thrash quartet BEZDAN unsheathe their long-in-development debut full-length album by raising power directly from Hell, fist first. That is to say that ‘Upon the Altar‘ brings blasphemic darkness via the spiritus of late 80’s extreme thrash wherein the lines between black and death metal blur into sinister aggression via the riff. Naturally the experience served is riddled with ‘old school’ grit and menacing action which is intently focused on its kill for the majority of its ~34 minute ride, manifesting a well above-average debut which is righteously imperfect in its inspired scrape through.

Bezdan formed as a natural extension of guitarist Filip‘s previous band Desecrator which had been around as a trio early as 2012 playing cover songs from 80’s death metal and black/thrash groups ’til they added a second guitarist Toma (Fotosinteza) and recorded an excellent demo tape (‘Of Visions and Voyages‘, 2014) of their own originals soon after. Any fan of “evil” or primitive mid-to-late 80’s thrash metal and the nascent battle of extreme metal in general will appreciate the rugged, unholy noise of that first tape. They might’ve been fans of more than the old Teutonic guard and South American frenzy but that was the apparent main prompt for their craft at that early stage, lead by the croaking vocals and tumult of their original drummer who’d left to front his own troupe Häxänking back in 2021. From that point they’d taken some time to replace that central figure as guitarist Toma took over vocal duties and the band found a new drummer.

You might end up writing off the black/thrash metal tag outright as ‘Upon the Altar‘ kicks off sounding like a particularly sinister late 80’s death-thrash metal band to start, whipping their hardest riff-focused attack out via familiar demo-era songs (“Dark Messiah”, “When Death Becomes Your Life”) that’ve been transformed into tightened bruisers by this new configuration. This is exacerbated by their saw through quick-cut Infernäl Mäjesty-esque opener “Sacrificial Death” reflecting the traits you’d find in more immediately post-’86 death metal where the exaggerative characteristics of ‘Reign in Blood‘ were amplified, in this case wailing screams and hardcore punk incensed movements help to get there while the bark of the vocals acts as the commanding feature. Those first few songs are all short burners, higher energy grinding through ~3 minute strikes which should recall some hint of Death‘s pre-’88 cut, primarily via the main verses of “When Death Becomes Your Life”.

While Side A builds its ‘old school’ thrashing fume upon the rawness of Bezdan‘s demo tape I’d found “Endless Fields of Bones” acted as a key hinge-point toward increasingly complex riff runs, longer pure thrash metal structured songs and a meaner presence growling through. This is where I’d found the band’s riffcraft most compelling as the major impression left by ‘Upon the Altar‘ really sinks in within its middle third portion and their work differs from (but also aligns with) the ambitions of the last decade of both Norwegian (Evoke, earlier Inculter) and Chilean classics-minded thrash metal.

Deeper into Side B “Vengeance” turns another corner along those same lines but the black/thrash metal side of the group is highlighted by a simpler, shorter composition which yields a structure closer to late 80’s German greats ’til they hit a mid-song break into blasting rupture. At that point the rest of their ambitions shake loose rather than shape the full experience as that black-thrashing death metallic roll gives way to an oddly set speed metal inspired piece (“Infernal Howls”) which must reflect some fandom of earlier Deströyer 666 or, simply signal their interest in breaking the tunnel vision created by the first seven or so songs; Though the full listen might sound uneven when divvying up the minutiae on paper it makes well enough sense on the ride through ’til “Infernal Howls” hits and starts to sound like a different band before. Thankfully closer “Crypts of Ancient ” rights the ship and yanks us back to the shrieking mania where we’d started.

There is a somewhat well rounded experience here as ‘Upon the Altar‘ naturally riles the ancient skull as an underground extreme thrash record of olde and a collection of their best ideas tuned to kill, though the sequence isn’t perfect and their work is basically gimmick-free beyond a shriek or four. Bezdan aren’t aiming to redefine the old ways here but instead reflect their own vision for the sinister grime of 80’s extreme thrash at a serious standard for performance, their work admirably sets the riff above all else while operating in a general “retro” premise. The majority of the experience serves the psychotic adrenaline rush promised in that it makes good on their demo material and should be a hit with you if your ear is as attuned toward the “evil” thrash of the past as mine. A high recommendation.

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