I’m well aware that my review of the new Sacrifice album ruffled more than a few feathers. While I don’t apologize for that, I’d also like to cast aspersions against the claim that I automatically hate any new album from a classic ’80s thrash band. Yes, the vast majority of these one time denim-jacketed, bullet belt clad thrashers have since grown old, tired, and uninspired. Hirax, on the contrary, have not. Whereas their peers scored major label deals, MTV airtime, and hopped upon every bandwagon that came through town, Hirax stayed creeping about the underground, playing to a rabid legion of Californian thrashers who gave up on Metallica after Master of Puppets.
Of course, their legend isn’t just limited to California. Come their 2000 reformation, Hirax have since played all over the globe, spreading their breakneck metal gospel to the likes of the euro open air circuit, Maryland Deathfest, and even the Windy City a time or two (check out our coverage of them at last year’s Legions of Metal here). They’ve been so prominent on the festival scene that new albums from them are far and few in between. It’s been 11 long years since their last outing, Immortal Legacy, so we’re absolutely thrilled to feast our ears and necks upon their latest, the aptly titled Faster than Death.
If there’s one thing Hirax DOESN’T do, it’s beat around the bush. What most thrash bands have to say in 4-5 minutes, Hirax boils down to 2, sometimes even 1 and change. I guess I can chalk that up to their punk rock attitude, but I digress. Take cuts like the title track or “Psychiatric Ward”, for example. Whereas any other thrash band would throw in a wanky guitar solo, one more verse, and repeat the hook one last time, at risk of overstaying their welcome, Hirax keep it short and anything but sweet, walloping us with old school thrash at its absolute fastest.
The songs themselves boast a solid balance of face-ripping speed (“Drill Into the Brain”, “Armageddon”) and nasty, knuckle-dragging mosh thrash (“Drowned Bodies”, “Revenant”). Master of mayhem Katon W. de Pena remains ferocious as ever, letting out an array of confrontational shouts and Bruce Dickinson-esque howls against a barrage of machine gun riffs. Save for the down tuning of the guitars, there’s nothing remotely “modern” about the arrangement, performance, or production of this album, which I largely chalk up to the aide of legendary producer Max Norman and longtime Hirax co-conspirator Bill Metoyer.
Save for an unnecessary rerecording of the classic “Warlords Command” (Spoiler alert: It thrashes as hard today as it did 40 years ago), Faster than Death is a defiant show of thrash metal muscle and full speed force. This is a band who know what they want, know what the fans want, and stick to it. Those griping about its all too brief 21 minute runtime (Lest we forget the pioneering proto-grind of 1986’s Hate, Fear and Power?) ought to be grateful for its compact force in an era where labels are STILL pressuring bands to “fill the CD” (you know who you are). Indeed, the violence is still raging hard than ever within Hirax!
7 out of 10
Label: Doomentia Records
Genre: Thrash Metal
For fans of: Exodus, Overkill, Whiplash