Album Review: Maze of Terror - Offer to the Fucking Beasts
Reviewed by Paul Hutchings
South American thrash metal can be massively unpredictable. All too often bands possess the rawness of Sepultura circa late 1980s, but it’s not that often that bands often appear able to step up to higher levels of quality in either song writing or production. Of course, it may be that the progression we often anticipate is generated because of our history and exposure to the Bay Area Thrash bands who clearly did progress. And for many, something with blood and dirt under the fingernails is infinitely more attractive than some polished ‘Black’ album.
Enter Peruvian thrash metallers Maze of Terror, whose second album ‘Offer to the Fucking Beasts’ is indeed a raw and angry release. Formed in 2011 in Lima, the band has released one full-length, 2016’s ‘Ready to Kill’ along with a smattering of Eps and singles along the way. Going under the pseudonyms Hammer (drums), Leviathan (Bass and vocals) and later joined by Criminal (guitars).
The first check to perform when reviewing an album like this is to see how long the better half can tolerate it. I expect the usual “that’s nice, dear” comment, but surprisingly, despite a couple of raised eyebrows and the occasional “how do you listen to this shit”, she stayed most of the course. The second point is to try and obtain some clarity about the title. ‘Offer to the Fucking Beasts’. I’m confused. Is this an offer to two animals caught in the act of copulation, or a more generalised use of an adverb/adjective? Who are these beasts, and what are Maze of Terror offering them anyway?
But questions aside, onto the actual music. Ritualistic chanting leads into the opening track, ‘Priests of the Ancient Ones, which morphs from a slow burning stomp into a frenzied six-minute workout, with the band’s ferocious thrash attacked scorched with a blackened edge. The interplay between the three musicians is tight, the drumming an absolute battery of double bass kicks and an assault on the snare that would surely be grounds for arrest. Searing solos and aggressive riffs all add to the mix and its only Leviathan’s vocals that raise questions. They are unrefined, primitive, and likely to be a challenge for some. Ultimately though, they fit the band’s sound, a bastard cross between early Sepultura, Slayer and Venom.
In some parts, this is an album that would shoehorn quite neatly into the new blackened thrash wave that is spreading across the metal world. The routine production combined with the sheer velocity and energy that surges through tracks such as ‘Angels of Acid’, the waspish swarm of ‘Death by Fire’ with one hell of a riff and the bass driven ‘A Million Kills’ which cleverly uses some synths to add atmosphere all add up to an album that begins to weave and crawl into the mind on repeated listens. There is more to this album than the initial playthrough suggested. I’m not 100% convinced by the shrill intro on ‘Starbeast’ but once the song gets going it rages violently before transitioning to the closing couple of tracks which maintain the momentum til the bitter end.
‘Offer to the Fucking Beasts’ is a genuinely interesting release. It won’t sit comfortably with everyone but if you want your thrash savage, belligerent and with sinews still twitching, then Maze of Terror will be worthy of an hour of your time.
