Italy’s HELLCRASH cranked out two demos and a split between 2013-2015, then unceremoniously departed from sight. Apparently, the trio has spent the time since on a strict regimen of liver punishment, graveyard hijinks and a diet of pre-’87 thrash/speed metal, now returning with its first full-length, Krvcifix Invertör.

HELLCRASH makes no secret of its allegiances right out the gate, four of the nine song titles invoking the name of Satan, so it’s clearly time to party, right? Hellraiser’s guitars and sneer could’ve literally been spawned from Killing Is My Business… – era Mustaine’s drunken sweat, while the title track is a garbled, filthy mess of the finest sort. There’s a bit of early VOIVOD and RAZOR in the melodies lurking behind the knee-deep mud the rhythm section of Skullcrusher and Nightkiller (bass & drums respectively) forces us to slog through, the coda of ‘Krvcifix Invertör’ pure orgiastic bloody-minded riffs.

‘Hordes Of Satan’ blows past at MOTORHEAD velocity, another memorable trident of terror, while…well, there aren’t really any ballads to be had here, as all pretty much follows the short, striking attack as opposed to such paltry things as oh, I don’t know, dynamics, but you know what? Dammit, it works for HELLCRASH, and the tunes have just enough differences between them to set them apart from each other, as in the angular, jagged solo at about the halfway mark of ‘Into The Necropolis’, the very nearly punk (think ENGLISH DOGS’ metal albums, THE EXPLOITED) frenzy of ‘Satanic Heresy’.

What would any metal album of this sort be without an ode to that elixir of the godless? Not much, I’d wager, but worry not, for ‘Alcoholic Brigade’ delivers, and at 666% proof, pouring us, wrung out and DT-ing our way into ‘Mephistopheles’, which puts a cap on this witch’s brew amid rumbling bass, turret-mounted drums, and guitars with all the streetfight-ready attitude you can muster.

Not one single nod to nowadays to be found on Krvcifix Invertör. If old school is your only school, meet HELLCRASH.
Review By: Lord Randall

HELLCRASH
Krvcifix Invertör
Dying Victims Productions
3.5 / 6