Album Review: Hellfekted - Woe To The Kingdom Of Blood
Reviewed by Neil Brannagan-Fuller
Deep and haunting church bells and air raid Sirens fill the room as the introduction to the title track before the drums boom into life, quickly joined by the rest of the band and throat ripping but pleasantly rhythmic vocals tear hauntingly over the slightly chant like song as Hellfekted announce their arrival and intent. ‘Woe To The Kingdom of Blood’ is the first self-released album release from this Stoke-on-Trent based Thrash Band and these young thrashers have a midlands legacy to live up to.
Where the first track is chanting, the second track ‘Treachery’ kicks things up a gear, with a full on thrash assault which has you pulling that face… you know the one, the gritted toothed snarled grimace that you pull before you throw yourself into the moshpit!
‘Tower of Life’ continues the fast tempo, with some breakdown parts that have ‘circle pit’ written all over them, this leads us into the fastest track on the album, ‘Fractured’ starts of at a million miles an hour and keeps on going, slowing down a bit in the middle for some heavy guitar solo work before the drumming kicks back in to bring the song home. ‘Stigma’, ‘Omen of The Anichrist’ and first track released ‘Fire at Will’ continue in the same vein, face melting riffs, accelerated tempo’s but held back at times to allow the musicianship and the heaviness to breath and hold the listener.
The final track ‘Archaic Demise’ finishes the album in just the right way, it’s the shortest track, but showcases everything the album is about, strong drumming, solid guitar and bass work and a powerful modern thrash vocal.
For a first album, this is well produced, mixed and played, sounding modern but not processed and the Hellfekted lads could comfortably share a stage with a whole host of other Thrash & Death Metal bands as their style sits squarely between the two genre’s
If you like your Thrash black, spread the evil and pick up a digital copy of the album from BandCamp or find them on Spotify.
