Description
Despite forming in 2013 and a couple demos and a split over those first few years, it wasn’t until HELLCRASH’s debut album, Krvcifix Invertör, where the band started to make a dark name for itself. Released on vinyl by DYING VICTIMS in 2021, Krvcifix Invertör proved HELLCRASH were a power-trio in the grand tradition of domestic legends Bulldozer, brewing a similarly sleazy (and EVIL) style of speed metal. Simple but sublime it was, and diehards definitely took notice.
Now, two years later, arrives HELLCRASH’s second album, Demonic Assassinatiön. On first glance (and especially THAT COVER), it would seem that HELLCRASH are sticking to their guns, sowing the same seeds as earliest Slayer, Venom, and of course Bulldozer. Peer deeper and this latest expurse of sodomy shows that there’s more – much more – to HELLCRASH’s cauldron. Immediately, their attack’s more refined here: some would call it “cleaning up,” but the fine-tuning of songcraft and polishing of production have paid off in spades across Demonic Assassinatiön. As such, there’s far more variation in that songcraft – sometimes more speed metal, other times more thrash, or even metalpunk before it was such a thing, often all in the same song – and HELLCRASH ably finesse this transition with tighter execution that, thankfully, doesn’t sacrifice an ounce of energy. In fact, if there’s on guiding aspect here, it’s energy: while HELLCRASH sometimes seem on the verge of self-combustion, so juiced-up is their rollercoaster sound, it all spills over into the listener as a celebration of filth, fury, and FUN. Could this be their The Final Separation? Perhaps…
Still sick, still sleazy, and definitely still crude & rude, HELLCRASH are firing on ALL cylinders here, and not just the old ones. So, while the aforementioned references still apply, Demonic Assassinatiön is equally recommended for maniacs of later GBH, Carnivore, Warfare, Crumbsuckers, and contemporaries Children of Technology.
