Hands up everyone sick to death of the new wave of old school Thrash Metal! No? Thought not. After all, how could anyone dislike an outburst of quality like this? It certainly beats the Metalcore madness of recent years, in that not only is Thrash the real spawn of Hardcore and Heavy Metal, but there’s an honesty about Thrash that the slickly glammed-up world of currently-fashionablecore could do well to learn from. True, if certain record labels continue to sign nothing but Thrash acts then the whole thing may wear a bit thin, but it’s worth enjoying for the time being.

One act certainly worth enjoying is German old-schooler Hellish Crossfire, clearly influenced by the best from its country. With a deliberately murky sound, and deliberately over the top artwork, Slaves Of The Burning Pentagram doesn’t disappoint. As you’d expect, the songs generally rattle along at a fairly speedy gallop, especially the likes of Conquerors Of Black Souls, although Eternally Tyranny slows it down a little for a more mid-paced intro section before the blasts come into focus. The bass is clearly audible, even as loud as the guitars at times, adding to the misty atmosphere but taking a bit of getting used to at first.

The songs are well-written with nothing flashy, no progressive or avant-garde experiments – which will probably curse the band to general obscurity. Although there’s nothing actually wrong with Hellish Crossfire, the members will need to shake it up a little if they want to become well known. Of course, chances are that they’re perfectly happy playing old-school Teutonic Thrash to people that love it, and if they can build a fanbase like that, all kudos to them. Anyone that prefers their Thrash post-1990 might find it too much altogether, but anyone that digs the sound of early Destruction or Sodom will get much from this, despite it being neither as melodic as the former nor as catchy as the latter. Still, those that care about the scene and likes this kind of Thrash would do well to support the band, as it’s good at what it does, and ultimately, that’s all you need.