Cult-thrashing beyond the gates of Hell in celebration of the oncoming descent Minas Gerais, Brazil-based black/death thrash metal trio SPEEDKILLER relish in the fires of damnation, the only truly reliable source of riffs within the canonical evil thrash metal tradition. Returning after more than a few years with a debut full-length album and readied to grate-loose the flesh, plumb the depths of dissolution, bring apocalyptic doom and incite worship of the ultimate adversary… these folks crucially back up ‘Inferno‘ with a proper riff-driven extreme thrash metal attack herein and it helps that this comes with their own dramatic flair intact. A roaring, kicking and fire-spitting scythe’s worth of reap one minute and a tarantella through a haunted mind the next this debut does well to hit a modest range of barbaric and sophisticated modes in creating a fevered, possessed energy which helps their classics-minded take stand out beyond pure devotion.

Speedkiller formed back in 2018 with members from both Brazil and Portugal and it seems it was the first project from most of the folks involved though some related bands were joined (Gallows Rites, Acid Void, etc.) or started in the interim, all of them extreme thrash in style. They’d eventually found a proper quartet configuration and conjured their debut mLP (‘Midnight Vampire‘, 2020) which’d won easy favor with me from the first listen thanks to a Castlevania lookin’ cover art and a style of sophisticated but feral thrash metal which was equal parts (early) Bathory-esque trampling black/speed metallic nox, traditional speed metal wailing, and a marriage of both Brazilian (Mutilator) and Teutonic (Kreator, Sodom) classic thrash style wherein brutality and escalating riffcraft found a natural headspace between the early witching metal stuff and the more possessed crews from South America in the late 80’s. When I reviewed the album I remarked with similar references including the middle ground of heavy metal speared Desaster (alternately, the first Cruel Force LP or even Diabolic Night‘s first record) but with some of that darker late 80’s Brazilian death/thrashing attack on hand.

The major appeal of that album was its kicking energy, its racing-speed riffcraft and ‘old school’ style where the most ancient evil thrash metal rhythmic ideas applied to songs like “Shadow People”. A straight forward and arcane sounding release with some modest anthemic ambition behind its core action; Here on the band’s debut LP we can instantly identify the same hand of main songwriter, guitarist and vocalist Yan Nielsen in terms of riffcraft and general melodic verve though some pieces make the connection with their mLP more readily, such as the speed metal hinged “Invoke the Lord” later on Side B. The bulk of this album takes on what I’d consider more death/thrash metal traits between the more gruff vocal approach and less of a focus on dramatic lead guitar work overall as the band hammer at classic late 80’s thrash metal extremism from the outset. In fact the opener, “The Birth of Immortal Evil”, sets a new tone for the band overall and acts as a fresh mission statement and an imposing piece for all that it showcases, more-or-less summing the effect of the first record and making it all work as a grand introduction to their diabolic adventure into the underworld.

At this point the original bassist and second guitarist have been swapped out beyond 2021 with a new bassist, Allefer Rocha of São Paulo-based speed metalpunk band Sanguinário performing on this album and this is more of a skeleton crew change than a total directional shift. The first thing I’d noticed is perhaps more of a ‘Terrible Certainty‘ touch to the production, specifically the drum sound, and more of a circa ’91 death-thrash cut to songs like “Serpent Doom” which still have that inherent Sodom kicked ride to the drumming but could’ve been mistaken for 80’s death metal per the slow single kick blasts deployed. I point to this song early on as an example of the way the drummer Hellkrätus shows quite a bit more finesse on this album in terms of shaking up the pacing, incorporating more late 80’s black/death blasts and fills into their sound. We’ve even got those ‘Schizophrenia‘ feeling tom rolls sparking up a few of the early pieces, such as the pretty simple anthemic barn-stormer “Apocalypse” (“Evil”, too). The main point being that it is clear they’ve got some love for the harder edge side of early extreme thrash metal but they’ve done well to add some nuance to their chosen tones and overall render thanks to a more up front production value, organic in its use of somewhat realistic space without dousing everything with too much false reverb.

Side A feels like new fire, fresh inspiration and the crazed action of Speedkiller embracing their own fiery damnation, cutting heavier riffs and focusing on how everything connects within that fast cut space. As we transition to the second half of the album we move away from the dogged blitz of it all towards more traditional heavy/speed metal inspired songwriting, hitting a high point with “Blood Worship” where their mastery of classics-era lead guitar is well showcased. The only real complaint I have about this second half is that a song like “Invoke the Lord” feels interruptive, almost generic next to the other pieces nearby and makes that point of transition akin to the black heavy/speed metal side of things which changes the tone of the full listen toward a slightly more rote approach. At that point our step into the finale of “Black Blitzkrieg” compounds this albums relation to what’d developed over the course of ‘Midnight Vampire‘ and officially extends that sound a bit more, not outside the realm of reasonable outcomes and a mark of consistency for the band all things considered.

If it were up to me albums like ‘Inferno’ would be released every week and the whole planet would default to making thrash metal releases in the spirit of the old, crazed underground evil of the late 80’s and with that held fast in mind I’d of course enjoyed every moment spent with Speedkiller‘s debut. They rip, they’ve got riffs, and the simple effect of their craft is not hard to pick up on or appreciate as a solid showing of rhythm guitar crush applied to memorable enough blackened thrash metal songs with a hint of hellish death in the air. If you’re not up for the adrenaline shock of an olden extreme thrash metal record this is exactly that and without any trendy spin on the formula, though these folks do have their own voice to apply to the craft per their use of dramatic melodic leads and some clear traditional heavy metal blips on their radar. This’d been the right balance of ideals for my own taste and the production values deployed by the band’ve only improved since 2020, making for an impressive debut release which I could happily leave on repeat all day long thanks to a no-bullshit, uninterrupted rip through its running order. A high recommendation.

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