Nekromantheon – The Visions of Trismegistos (Indie Recordings/Hells Headbangers)
With their 2010 debut, Divinity Of Death and its 2012 follow-up, Rise, Vulcan Spectre, Nekromantheon showed the thrash revival wasn’t confined to the US and UK.
Their eviscerating mix of early Teutonic thrash, Possessed and Show No Mercy-era Slayer felt like one of the most exciting things on planet metal.
And then – bar a one-track contribution to 2013’s Nekrothrash split EP – silence.
Nine years of it, to be precise.
Yes, Sindre Solem, Christian Holm and Arild Myren Torp busied themselves with the likes of Obliteration and Deathhammer, but thrashers world-wide yearned for the lacerating attack of Cast Down To The Void and Devolutionary Storms.
News of the Norwegian outfit’s return, therefore, was greeted with near-hysteria.
And they haven’t let their devotees down.
The Visions of Trismegistos is taught, brilliantly executed razor thrash… and it picks up where the Grammy-award winning Rise, Vulcan Spectre left off.
Bar a little less reverb on the vocals and a crisper production – courtesy of the band themselves – Nekromantheon’s third opus roars with the unhinged spirit of their earlier work… and is a contender (along with Evile’s Hell Unleashed) for comeback of the year.
Indeed, few acts are as instinctive and downright lethal when dealing in this brand of thrash.
And few post-2000 thrash acts can get anywhere near Nekromantheon’s urgency and authenticity.
Neptune Descent boasts the kind of addictive riff that got you into the genre in the first place… and the explosive pace to keep you hooked.
Thanatos is thrills, trills and fills galore, capturing the energy of Kreator’s Endless Pain or Destruction’s Infernal Overkill.
And the rabid Dead Temples pushes Nekromantheon’s fusion reactor to near-breaking point.
They are just three examples of the scorched earth thrash that is The Visions of Trismegistos. It’s an album which simply does not let up for a second… and a record that reminds us of this band’s supreme talent.
Let’s just pray that it’s not another nine years before they return.