Considering how common it is to hear American bands attempting to replicate various German metal styles, whether it be their valorous power metal, ripping maniac thrash, or some other national staple I’m forgetting at the moment, it’s quite a welcome surprise to be reviewing a German band attempting an American sound. Specifically, I’m talking about Archaic Thorn and their debut album, Malicious Spears, which for all purposes could pass for a lost US death metal artifact circa ’87. In an age where far too much “death metal” is simply hardcore masquerading in an Obituary camo hat, it’s an album like Malicious Spears that truly captures the spirit of the genre.
Emboldened by rotten production, gloomy instrumentation, bone-crushing riffage, and prototypical growls that lie closer to Tom G. Warrior than Cookie Monster, Malicious Spears is a blatant throwback to the days when death metal was largely isolated to demo tapes and a small handful of full length platters (i.e. Death’s Scream Bloody Gore, Necrophagia’s Season of the Dead, etc.). It also features cover art courtesy of Sadistik Execution legend, Rok, who I can’t help but think related to the primal nature and brute force of Archaic Thorn’s music. After all, SE are yet another band whom without, there’s no telling what black and death metal would be today, but we’ll save that for a future Top 10.
The lumbering opening onslaught of “Lord of Tombs” sets the stage for a truly bludgeoning affair. While it lacks the bleak atmosphere and dragging tempos of death/doom, the guitar tone is as heavy as any Cianide or Autopsy release, and never lets up at any point afterwards. Frenzied demonic ragers like “A Blessed Ground Remains” and “Conquering Spirits” channel the unhinged spirit of the Necrovore demo and Abominations of Desolation era Morbid Angel, fusing muscular, hook-driven riffage with schizophrenic musicianship, yet without ever going full tech or sacrificing the power of the riff. Again, it’s ’87 death metal mania.
“Massgrave Transformation” might be the one tune on here that does tap the death/doom vein, sounding like the missing link between Hellhammer and Incantation with its dismal delivery and riffage excavated from the lowest depths of hell. My choice cut, however, throws things back a year or two earlier to ’86 or ’85. Blindingly fast, chaotically evil, and littered with thrashy maneuvers, “Angel of Havaz” is a no-nonsense death-thrasher that ever so effortlessly taps that Possessed and Hell Awaits era Slayer vein. If you sandwiched it in a playlist between “The Exorcist” and “Kill Again”, I’d be fooled!
As the closing title track punishes us one last time, the listener is left gasping for air, suffocated by the stench of ancient death. Admittedly, Archaic Thorn’s songcraft could use some work, especially when it comes to formulating distinct riffs and hooks, but what their songs may lack in singularity, they make up for in pure brutality. The ’80s death metal aesthetic is captured spot-on here, and the songs are strong enough that I’ll certainly be returning to Malicious Spears the next time I’m in a deathly state of mind. If you’re as sick as the genre’s trend-hoppers and cosplayers as I am, I recommend you allow yourself to be impaled by Archaic Thorn too!
7 out of 10
Label: High Roller Records
Genre: Death Metal
For fans of: Necrovore, Morbid Angel, Degial