Astaroth - Operation Warlord FLAC download

Coming from the depths of Finland in 1994 comes Astaroth with this great slab of death thrash. Most of the thrash influence is in the their lyrics. Both tracks are about nuclear war and it's aftermath, a subject covered by numerous thrash bands. Luckily for Astaroth, I never get tired of nuclear war songs. The music has some thrash riffing and some restrained guitar solos, but it mostly falls into the realm of older death metal like Deceased or the first Amorphis CD. After a short intro, the first song cruises along before opening into double time. After slowing down into an Incantation-like part, the band rips ahead into solid thrash territory before heading back into the death metal. The second track starts off slowly, but really picks up after the first chorus. That's when the music charges ahead for a verse before dropping back down to a slow and heavier groove.The vocals are rough, with English lyrics and a Finnish accent. The guitars are heavy with plenty of buzz-saw distortion. The riffs are mean and sharp no matter if the band is thrashing ahead or plodding along. During the last verse on the b-side, there's some particularly great guitar work utilizing a little feedback and some frantic whammy abuse. That solo is the most chaotic and surprising part of this otherwise above average EP. The bass guitar is buried too much, but that's a pretty typical metal complaint. The bass drum is a little clicky, but otherwise the drums sound great and the drummer doesn't rely too much on his cymbals.You can really tell these guys spent some time demoing tracks, as they picked two good songs to immortalize on vinyl. The vocals and the guitars sound the best - very clear and upfront in the recording. It's just a shame that with two guitarists, they didn't spend more time playing off each other like Hanneman and King. The band could easily pull this off live with only one guitarist. If you find this 7" down at the record fair, I recommend picking it up.