As the by-word in underground circles for that undervalued crossover that is blackened thrash metal, Aura Noir are highly regarded indeed, and fifth full-length Out To Die is fine proof of why, if the teensieth bit of a bit of a step-down in quality from 2008's excellent Hades Rise. Fear not, although not up there with the (g)ripping beauty of Black Thrash Attack or even The Merciless, Out To Die is still a very good album that will thoroughly rock your grim and frostbitten socks. You certainly won't be complaining on your first, or tenth, listen whilst the likes of Trenches rip across your eardrums, howling solos and buzzsaw riffage pumelling constantly - the perfect unification of thrash and black metal, complete with a lovely crunchy breakdown. Fed To The Flames' nicely melodic soloing and powerful 'ugh!' at the exact right moment will have you horn-throwing like there's no tomorrow, and Abaddon's Satanic fury is what headbanging was invented for.
There's not a great deal that you can write about music this thrilling, although the slower, more epic The Grin From The Gallows makes for a nice mid-album break that brings groove to the table and makes damn good use of it. After that, it's back to the thrash with Withheld's gallop, and the slightly odd Priest's Hellish Fiend which is my pick for the album's poorest track but alone is catchier than anything Slayer have come up with of late. A closing one-two with Deathwish and the title track's single-minded pulverisation and you're left with a kickass if all too short album that will more than please anyone who said 'Aura Noir, fuck yeah!' when they saw this review.
There are 3 replies to this review. Last one on Thu Aug 30, 2012 10:13 pm
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