Here are five 7 ” EPs from Atlanta based Boris Records and all three are rooted in denim and beer or Satan, being retro, old school thrash at their core with various elements of either death or black metal.

Up first is home grown thrashers,  Sadistic Ritual the label’s very own home town in Atlanta , Georgia. The two songs on their Hellish Mercenary 7″ , the releases namesake and “Neurotoxin”, are 9 minutes of old school thrash metal with just a tiny dash on blackened, boozy metal by way of some vocals slighter raspier than the normal thrash vocals. The riffs are based around some rough and ready blasts amid a frenetic, Bay Area back patch and tights jeans sound.  It’s fun a has a very nice old school guitar tone, with just a bit of bite to keep it a little nasty.

Up next is another Atlanta act, Spewtilator’s and their excellently named Goathrower 7″.   These guys squeeze 5 short songs into their 9 minute EP of death metal/crust tinged thrash. Some deeper growls appear alongside throaty rasps, making this the death metal-ish of the three 7″s, despite a distinct tongue in cheek, bong laden haze. Heck there’s even some higher register Judas Priest -ish wails in “Cherokee Curse” leading me to believe that Spewtilator is out to have a good time and just rock out and have some fun (ie”Let’s Get Drugs”), 80s style.

The last 7″ is from Death of Kings, also from Atlanta (who knew Atlanta had such and active retro thrash scene?) and these two songs, being a little more serious, are my 2 favorites in this little batch of 7″s. Both “Knifehammer” and “Beneath the Obsidian” are thrash songs, but not overly retro, having a bit of a 3 Inches of Blood/Skeletonwitch vibe. Classically rooted, but with a bit of a cleaner, modern touch. More melodic and with plenty of solos and throaty shouts (and gang chants), the release hits the denim clad spot without being too cliched. Its a solid, honest 9 minutes of thrash that hints at something pretty special in the future.

A little more on the blacker side of things, especially in the almost hissed vocals, is Peru’s Morbid Slaughter and their 7″, Wicca. As with all the other 7″s covered above,  this is slightly thrash infused and the 2 songs, “Wicca” and “Nightly Breath of God”, are raw and spike laden. Neither track really breaks any or label or stylistic paradigms, but they do plenty of grimly thrashing black metal with a snarling energy and sacrilegious presentation and aesthetic.

Back to Atlanta, Georgia with Hellgoat‘s End of Man 7″. And what else would you expect at this point in the review and from a band called Hellgoat? My second favorite of these 7″s after Death of Kings, Hellgoat‘s two songs are rooted in more bestial, dirty and filthy black death metal throwing some dirt and piss on a root sound not dissimilar to the likes of Teitanblood. Feedback drenched, down-tuned, distorted guitars, a disgusting throbbing bass and primal rasps and growls fill both “Demonic Worship of the Horned Beast” and “End of Man”, making this a really gnarly few minutes and a band to really keep an eye on in the increasingly ‘post’ USBM scene. These guys would be a perfect fit on Hells Headbangers.

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