GHOUL

Fear and loathing abounds in Creepsylvania…again. Messrs. Cremator, Fermentor, Digestor, and Dissector return to slash, gash, and impale their way through 12 tracks of some of the best horror thrashing goodness that not only Razorback, but any respectable metal label, has to offer. Dubbed most appropriately "Splatterthrash", the album does not quite top the metallic superiority of 2003's "Maniaxe", easily a Horror Hive watershed release. This means only that the new disc merits a mere 8/10, instead of the 8.5 or so that is deserving of its predecessor. High marks, yes, but the GHOUL collective are nearly unmatched in creating a total package of old school thrash, gore-soaked horror movie lyrical fare, and over the top artwork.

Amidst classic thrash ("Into the Catacombs") and twangy, B-movie surfer-by-way-of-slasher ("Psychoplasm") instrumentals, songs like "Bury the Hatchet", "Cult of the Hunter", "Gutbucket Blues" and "Merde!" are rugged metal coffin crushers. The riffs are thrashingly exquisite, the growl and snarl vocal interplay, and naturally propulsive drumming are so skillfully executed that even the snootiest metal fan is sure to turn into a head-banging blood freak. The backing shout choruses on the title track and "Rise, Killbot, Rise!!!" recall the glory days of thrash. Fun-filled, fist-pumping, and pit-worthy, the cuts are brutal and catchy, a call to arms for those longing for the days when the terrain wasn't littered with tech-metal wannabes and scowling egoists. A little arrangement imagination goes a long way on "Mutant Mutilator", the tempo changing from chugging groove to whiplash ferocity. The song's story of a puny, heavy metal loving comic book nerd named Billy (Nocera?) that is mercilessly bullied and ridiculed before transforming into the fearsome Gore Boar, sadistically exacting his revenge on his assailants. And my god, man, if dirty little ditties like "As Your Casket Closes" and "Life of the Living Dead" don't have you shouting along and thrusting the devil horns skyward, then you are most certainly a lost cause.

Seriously, kids, you need a little GHOUL in your lives. Wipe off the eyeliner, buy some pants that fit, and pick up a copy of "Splatterthrash". It's the right thing to do.