A trip back to the 1980s thrash metal scene, “Eternal Flames of Hell” delivers a relentless whirlwind of blackened thrash that’s drenched in energy and vintage attitude. If you ever wondered what it would be like to summon the furious spirit of Destruction and Sodom, then sprinkle it with haunting black metal vocals, Inverted Cross has your answer. These Catalonian maniacs have concocted an album that revels in chaos, raw speed, and old-school aggression, all packaged with a passion for the darker arts.
From the opening “March of the Fallen,” a brief instrumental war march, the band catapults you straight into “Attack With Hellfire”. This track wastes no time battering the listener with searing riffs, feral vocals, and a sense of impending doom that thrashes at full throttle. Philip Graves and Alis Demonized wield their guitars like weapons, delivering a barrage of riffs that are as sharp as they are menacing.
The standout track, “Into the Crypt of the Necromancer,” tricks you initially with a deceptive interlude of eerie calm before erupting into a ferocious storm of speed and menace. The song captures everything Inverted Cross does best: unrelenting thrash with blackened undertones and a sense of foreboding that lingers long after the song ends. It’s like being plunged into a Lovecraftian nightmare at 200 beats per minute.
Guille Hungover’s guttural snarls and grim vocals add the perfect amount of malice, especially on tracks like “Under an Evil Presence” and “Invoke the Goat”. The latter is a frenzied two-and-a-half-minute blitzkrieg of blasphemous energy that channels Kreator-style riffing with a punkish ferocity.
The production by Gonzalo Vivero is raw but well-balanced, perfectly capturing the essence of classic blackened thrash without losing clarity. This is no polished-over studio trickery; it’s a gritty, analog-sounding beast that pays homage to the genre’s origins. The drumming by Chris Carrest is relentless, providing the fuel that keeps this runaway freight train of an album careening forward.
Tracks like “Suffer to Live” and “Black Leather Hordes” keep the adrenaline pumping with their breakneck tempos and gnarly solos. The title track, “Eternal Flames of Hell”, closes the album with a blaze of infernal glory, cementing Inverted Cross’s commitment to keeping the torch of Teutonic thrash burning bright.
This album is a masterclass in how to blend the high-speed fury of thrash with the malevolence of black metal. While it may not tread new ground, it doesn’t need to. Inverted Cross knows exactly who they are and delivers their blistering brand of blackened thrash with conviction and style.
For fans of old-school chaos, this is a must-listen. And if Inferno Festival needs a band to set the stage alight with pure black-thrash madness, they should be dialling up Inverted Cross immediately.
Rating: 9/10
Release Date: November 29th, 2024
Label: Helldprod Records
Writer: Andy Baqone
Tracklist:
- March of the Fallen
- Attack With Hellfire
- Under an Evil Presence
- Invoke the Goat
- Into the Crypt of the Necromancer
- Suffer to Live
- Black Leather Hordes
- Trapped Underground
- Eternal Flames of Hell
