KILLING

Face The Madness

Mighty
rating icon 8.5 / 10

Track listing:

01. Kill Everyone
02. Before Violence Strikes
03. Don't Get Mad, Get Evil
04. See You In Hell
05. Legion Of Hate
06. Straight Out Of Kattegat
07. One Last Victim
08. 1942
09. Killed In Action


Denmark's contribution to heavy metal can hardly be overstated. There's KING DIAMOND and MERCYFUL FATE, for a start. But in terms of thrash, once you get past ARTILLERY, INVOCATOR and (at a stretch) KONKHRA, the average thrash kid on the street has not exactly been bombarded with gems from Greenland's territorial proprietors.

All of that changes instantly, within seconds of KILLING's debut album exploding into life. "Face The Madness" is a simply sublime thrash metal record: vicious, violent, goofy and almost overburdened with great hooks and fist-to-the-face dynamics.

It starts with what might as well be the Danish band's manifesto. "Kill Everyone" is two-minutes long and utterly unrelenting: the spirit and spite of early KREATOR welded to a more precise and destructive rhythmic core. The production hits the spot, too, with a perfectly pitched blend of ugly rawness and cutting-edge punch, all of which underpins the defiantly old school but oddly ageless nature of KILLING's songwriting. Bassist and vocalist Rasmus Soelberg has one of those hideous, throat-shredding rasps that ensures that everything he spits out sounds like a threat. On the obnoxiously catchy "Don't Get Mad, Get Evil", you can almost hear the malevolent sparkle in his eye, as a rampaging, instantly memorable chorus erupts from the melee, replete with EXCITER-like shrieks.

Thereafter, "Face The Madness" is a relentless, metal thrashing joy. "See You In Hell" swoops and destroys with real trad metal fervor, but at KILLING's customary, hell-for-leather pace; "Legion Of Hate" injects a thick, choking dose of rock 'n' roll into the Danes thrash attack; "Straight Out Of Kattegat" cranks up the cold-hearted, battlefield melodrama and delivers wave after wave of pestiferous riffs. Best of the lot, "Killed In Action" rounds out a beautifully paced and cohesive album with grinding, mid-paced macabre grandeur that reeks of bloody bullets and smoking flesh.

Thrash will never die because bands like KILLING keep harnessing its magic and finding fresh ways to batter us all to death with it. "Face The Madness" isn't a suggestion, it's an order.

Author: Dom Lawson
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • reddit
  • email

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).