Labels: Hells Headbangers – Ripping Storm – Terror From Hell
Review by: Alex Deller
There is something very odd about this release. It’s as though the thing has been dredged from the tail end of the 80s or very early 90s and sounds undeniably authentic, but not in a good way. Like a thrashed up mix of Doom, Motörhead, Sacrilege, Sodom and Bolt Thrower? A dash of something Japanese, despite the band hailing from Italy? These comparisons could certainly apply, but they might also imply that ‘Future Decay’ is a work of terrifying brilliance. It most certainly is not. Some of the riffs are ok, I suppose. And ‘Remembrance Day’ makes me do a half smile when the singer sounds a bit like Bela Lugosi, as do the moments elsewhere where he employs a giddy, guinea piggish squeal. Overall things lock together well and buzz by at pace, but at no point am I compelled to punch a wolf’s head off, train a falcon to attack my foes or drive a customised motorcycle through a hoard of post-apocalyptic barbarians. And while these might seem like strange things to crave from a humble piece of music, without them a record like falls impossibly and resoundingly flat.