Thrash metal is often best when it comes from places you might not expect, and SpellForger are proof of this in the utmost. Though Indonesia is a country known for its lush death metal scene, your average old-school headbanger might not think of West Jav, as the place to find surging riffs and throttling drums, but this unholy quartet bring that in spades. Swinging dual swords of galloping old-school sensibilities and very modern extreme-metal hostility, this band make the kind of music that fans of both speed metal’s pioneers and modern-day noise merchants will absolutely love.
SpellForger’s latest, Upholders of Evil, sounds like a timeless testament to the international thrash titans of old. Rather than build on a backbone of Bay Area skate worship like so many latter-day thrash acts, these dudes work outward from a skeleton built by artists around the globe: the confrontational hardcore snarl of Endless Pain-era Kreator, the militant grinding riffage of late-’80s Sepultura, the acid thresher approach of Japan’s King’s Evil, the percussive cyclone and in-your-face attitude of Norway’s Carpathian Forest, and songwriting confidence of Britain’s Onslaught. The result is a record that goes all-in on what it’s all about, and will put wicked smiles on speedfreaks the world over.
Listen to our advance album stream of SpellForger’s Upholders of Evil below:
SpellForger’s Upholders of Evil comes out April 2nd via Personal Records and is available for preorder. Check out the full tracklisting and cover art below:
- Upholders of Evil
- Lord of Possession
- Metal Crusaders
- Curse of the Lycans
- Black Spellcrafters
- Pestilentia
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Words by Chris Krovatin
