#speedmetal — Public Fediverse posts

ETERNITY'S END (Alemanya) presenta nou single: "Ravenheart" #EternitySEnd #ProgressivePower #SpeedMetal #Setembre2026 #Alemanya #NouSingle #Metall #Metal #MúsicaMetal #MetalMusic

ETERNITY'S END (Alemanya) presenta nou single: "Ravenheart" #EternitySEnd #ProgressivePower #SpeedMetal #Setembre2026 #Alemanya #NouSingle #Metall #Metal #MúsicaMetal #MetalMusic

Culloden – Witchpricker
#HeavyMetal #Metal #NWOBHM #NWOTHM #SpeedMetal #epicmetal #heavymetal #NewcastleUponTyne
CC BY-NC-ND (#CreativeCommons Attribution Non Commercial No Derivatives) #ccmusic
https://cullodenuk.bandcamp.com/album/witchpricker

Il Segreto del Vero Rock: Perché la Tua Chitarra Ha Bisogno di un Mastro Liutaio (E Dove Trovarlo!)

https://metal-lore.com/2026/07/20/il-segreto-del-vero-rock-perche-la-tua-chitarra-ha-bisogno-di-un-mastro-liutaio-e-dove-trovarlo/

ETERNAL DAGGER RELEASE ... TODAY!

Time since MIGHT & MAGIC:
11 years.
4,061 days.
5,847,840 minutes.
Enough time to listen to the IRON MAIDEN album 143,564 times.

And now, the time has come.

OUR THIRD ALBUM ETERNAL DAGGER IS OUT TODAY!

We will present some songs tomorrow at Der Detze Rockt, where you will also be able to purchase it in person. We will update the merch on our bandcamp store shortly.

Thanks for the support. It means the world to us.
#IronKobra #EternalDagger #HeavyMetal #SpeedMetal #EpicMetal #metal #rock #nwothm

:headbanger: FULL ALBUM STREAM :headbanger:

We are proud to present to you, in collaboration with Decibel Magazine, our upcoming album ETERNAL DAGGER in its entirety!

ETERNAL DAGGER will release this Friday, with our official release party at DETZE ROCKT Festival on Saturday. Don't forget to pre-order the album at Dying Victims Productions! #HeavyMetal #IronKobra #metal #SpeedMetal #EpicMetal #EternalDagger
https://www.decibelmagazine.com/2026/06/15/full-album-stream-iron-kobra-eternal-dagger/

Dal “Maestro” alla Tabula Rasa: la TV italiana preferisce il playback al Guitar Solo

https://metal-lore.com/2026/06/15/dal-maestro-alla-tabula-rasa-la-tv-italiana-preferisce-il-playback-al-guitar-solo/

Iron Kobra – Eternal Dagger
#EpicMetal #HardRock #HeavyMetal #Metal #SpeedMetal #german #Gelsenkirchen
CC BY-NC-SA (#CreativeCommons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike) #ccmusic
https://ironkobra.bandcamp.com/album/eternal-dagger

Iron Kobra – Dungeon Masters
#EpicMetal #HardRock #HeavyMetal #Metal #SpeedMetal #german #Gelsenkirchen
CC BY-NC-SA (#CreativeCommons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike) #ccmusic
https://ironkobra.bandcamp.com/album/dungeon-masters

IRON KOBRA 2026 – The Eternal Dagger Era

Ela – Six String Slaying & Haunting Screams from Sto'Vo'Kor
Björn – Thundering Drums of Doom
Steffen – Guitar Carnage on the Altar of Harmony
Matze – Four Strings of Apocalypse

📸 Kai Ski of The Serpent Sun Tattoo
#HeavyMetal #SpeedMetal #EpicMetal #IronKobra #EternalDagger

TREMBLING DUNGEONS

We're proud to introduce the first single TREMBLING DUNGEONS off of our upcoming album ETERNAL DAGGER in conspiracy with Dying Victims Productions and presented by DEAF FOREVER!

ETERNAL DAGGER will be out June 19th and is up for pre-order at Dying Victims Productions now! #HeavyMetal #SpeedMetal #EpicMetal
https://youtu.be/modFaAVuKiQ?si=Q6L6Md5Y8mK6SLt3

Evolution. It’s one of those principles that seems to undergird just about every aspect of existence in this universe. As students of our most favorite of genres, we often speak about the “evolution of heavy metal” and how it has birthed a plethora of subgenres of varying degrees of viability. While some of these subgenres carry enough useful traits to become long-lasting pillars in the monument of heavy metal, others seem to serve the role of transitional forms or “missing links” between more well-known styles. Case in point: speed metal. Often seen as a momentary stop on metal’s journey from traditional to thrash, relatively few bands have built a career on speed alone. Acts who start with speed metal (many early thrash bands and power metal bands, especially) often incorporate other elements or transition to something else entirely. While this may be the general trend in metal’s history, Germany’s Cruel Force says, “Fuck that.”

Formed back in the late aughts as a blackened thrash/speed metal band, Cruel Force regrouped after a long hiatus, reinventing themselves as a pure and simple speed metal band with 2023’s Dawn of the Axe, an album that impressed me enough to earn a spot on my list of honorable mentions for that year. Well, if that was the dawn of the axe, 2026’s Haneda is the reign of the axe, an axe that has been meticulously honed and polished to the point of being as beautiful as it is lethal. I’d suggest doing a proper warmup before pressing play on the embedded “Whips-A-Swinging,” because severe neck damage is all but inevitable.

Haneda by CRUEL FORCE

In fact, Haneda should have come with a warning from the surgeon general stating something like, “May cause permanent stank face. May cause carpal tunnel syndrome secondary to excessive involuntary air guitar. May cause the user to run through walls, laugh maniacally at inappropriate times, or punch strangers in the face. Do not use while operating motor vehicles, as dangerous and irreversible acceleration has occurred. User may also feel the urge to destroy said vehicle with their bare hands, Street Fighter style.” And that’s just my experience with the record these maniacs have produced. Guitarist Slaughter absolutely lives up to his name, slaying all before him with unbelievable rhythm skills and classic metal leads, while Spider’s fingers crawl across his bass fretboard in an effort to keep up. Carnivore feasts, delivering a timeless, thrashy vocal performance that suits the music oh so well, but MVP honors go to drummer GG Alex, whose incessant fills have managed to become a hallmark of Cruel Force’s sound.

The prospect of 42 minutes of speed metal probably doesn’t sound all that special or exciting, but in Cruel Force’s capable hands, Haneda has managed to transcend the genre’s ham-fisted, beer-guzzling stereotype to create something truly special. The compositions are incredible, ranging from 4-minute rippers like “Whips-A-Swinging,” “Savage Gods,” “Sword of Iron,” and “Black Talon,” stretching into more complex work like “Warlords” or the album’s instrumental centerpiece “Crystal Skull,” and finishing in grand fashion with the epic, 9-minute, Song o’ the Year-frontrunning title track. Every song features wild, yet somehow graceful transitions and killer grooves, and the production is simply beautiful, proving that an album can sound authentically old and brutal while simultaneously feeling cultured and refined. I’m honestly still in shock from how hard this album hit me; what on first listen felt like just a really good speed metal album has revealed itself to be utterly excellent.

To finish my musings on evolution, Haneda sounds like a handful of speed metal bands become isolated on an island that drifted away from mainland Metal millions of years ago (let’s call this island ‘Metalgascar’) and whose progeny have spent the intervening time adapting and mutating without any other external musical influence. Where mainland Metal achieved heaviness through ever more extreme vocalization, down-tuning, and genre bastardization, Metalgascar developed its heaviness through ever-increasing speed and compositional quality. Far from being some hunched-over figure towards the beginning of heavy metal’s March of Progress, speed metal, in the form of Cruel Force, has achieved its final form, becoming Homo deus, the Übermensch, the Gigachad, or as the kids say these days, “he’s him” (or “she’s her,” or “they’re them,” if you prefer). This fantastic record will undoubtedly be on my year-end list (if not atop it), because I doubt that 2026 can produce something that’s more quintessentially metal.

Rating: 4.5/5.0
DR: 9 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Shadow Kingdom Records
Websites: cruelforce.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/cruelforce
Releases Worldwide: March 27th, 2026

Unlike some of our staff, I’ve never been in a band. However, I can imagine the feeling of satisfaction in putting together and releasing that first full-length record. For every band that achieves this milestone, countless more never do. Italy’s Borrower was nearly among that number. Formed in 1993, Borrower released three demos in the ’90s, a fourth in 2005, and then disappeared until 2018 with their debut EP. Whatever interrupted their musical career, the dream remained, and they finally released their first album (and signed to a label, to boot) 33 years later with their founding vocalist, Massano Ratano, and drummer, Frank Formoso, joined by new guitarists Matteo Marzo and Matteo Marini. Behold their vision, a story of killer, humanoid demons as told through music that harks back to some of the legends of ’80s and ’90s speed metal.

Granted, the concept of an album where each song tells a story about a distinctive demonic entity with its own unique “physical traits” and “specific weapon” is extremely silly, yet Killerdemons proves to be a catchy and cool affair. Borrower claim Motörhead, Judas Priest, and Dio as their main influences, and they write spare, riff-tastic tunes in their honor. The guitars carry much more heft than their influences, however, with enough reverb to take tunes dangerously close to stoner territory a lá High on Fire and Black Sabbath. This marriage between speed and stoner proves effective. “El Degollador” oscillates between lightning-fast, “Ace of Spades”-inspired riffs and slower, “War Pigs”-style stoner riffs in a performance that’s sure to give you whiplash. Taking a cue from AC/DC, Borrower keeps their song structures simple yet catchy. The rollicking “Stay Alive” best demonstrates this virtue with crisp songwriting and energetic pacing. Each track has distinctive riffs that are far more powerful than the demons it conjures.

In the eight years since their 2018 EP, A Plague Chapter…, Borrower has vastly improved their sound and instrumental prowess. The two Matteos have played a major role in this transformation. Marini’s fuzzy guitar tone adds heft where the EP’s guitars sounded tinny. His blending of Motörhead-style riffcrafting with the density of High on Fire and Mastodon adds an extra oomph to tracks like “Der Todessoldat” and “Tough Fight.” Marzo’s bass takes a commanding presence as well. He adds depth and backbone to the music, making his presence especially felt on the slower moments of “Knocking on the Coffins.” Formoso takes a restrained approach behind the kit, occasionally blasting the cymbals (“Dream on Fire”), but mostly setting the pace with an effective simplicity. The wild card of the group is vocalist Ratano. He seemingly channels Lemmy, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Fozzie Bear in a truly strange, yet somehow endearing performance. His Italian accent, which drags out the words “kee-ler dee-mons” during the chorus of “Killerdemons,” adds a level of camp that contributes to the goofy fun.

While Borrower keeps Killerdemons to a concise 36 minutes, the record does falter on the two songs that stray from the 3-4 minute range. The first, “Knocking on the Coffins,” has some memorable riffs, including a cool, old school solo, but at over five minutes, it drags on a bit too long. Positioned between the album’s two best tracks, it also proves to be a major momentum killer. The biggest sore thumb, however, is the six-plus minute finale, “A Chaos Vortex.” Not only does it lack memorable riffs, but it falters in its final two minutes as the band sorely misjudges when to best wrap it up. Trimming 2-3 minutes from each of these songs would have immensely improved the album’s otherwise incredible pacing.

As I established last month, metal tends to invite some weird characters, and the killer demon universe created here is certainly an odd one. But that’s also what makes metal so much fun. Bands feel free to try out their off-the-wall ideas, from literary– or video game-inspired themes to the creation of fantasy or sci-fi realms. And sometimes these ideas actually work. Borrower finally sees through their vision, or at least the start of it, and presents it in such a catchy, cool way. I love to see original ideas performed with such care and passion, and I hope these guys continue to cultivate their ideas and musical talents.



Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Argonauta Records
Website: Bandcamp | Facebook | Official Site
Releases Worldwide: February 13th, 2026

Sacred Leather – Keep the Fire Burning Review

By Steel Druhm

I’ve never been to Indiana, so I’m not acquainted with how they do things. After listening to Sacred Leather’s sophomore outing, Keep the Fire Burning, I’m definitely left wondering if time moves differently there, though. That’s because this is one of the most retro, throwback-y pure metal things I’ve heard in some time, with a sound so hopelessly locked between 1983-1986, that I feel my back hair receding as my olde denim jacket grows new Venom and Motörhead patches. When I call this style “dated,” what I really mean is carbon-dated.1 Now, don’t take this as a criticism, as those years were some of the very best for classic heavy metal, and Sacred Leather do their damnedest to harvest the finest elements from a time when things were simple, pure, and still very based in hard-rock. As this album unspools, you’ll be whisked away to an age when Jag Panzer, Savage Grace, and Warlord ruled with a collective iron fist, and being labeled a poser was akin to a death sentence. Could you withstand the cred rigors of such a draconian time? Steel Druhm did once and would gladly do so again!

After a tasteful instrumental intro, Sacred Leather tan your worthless hide from point Ape to point ChimpanZee on “Spitfire at Night,” powered by the uber-period guitar work of J.J. Highway and Cvon Owens. It’s vintage metal with a speed injection, and it reminds me of long-forgotten German quasi-thrashers Vendetta mixed with Agent Steel. That’s 100% undiluted Steel bait, and the chum is thick and saucy here. Riffs churn and race, over-the-top solos stamp fat exclamation points, and frontman Dee Wrathchild screams and wails like a banshee on banshee meths. It’s a recipe for rowdy, high-energy shenanigans, and in the steady hands of Sacred Leather, this volatile brew sizzles and pops. “Phantom Highway (Hell is Comin’ Down)” delivers more lusty worship of excess. It’s a slick blend of NWoBHM and the most sturdy of mid-80s US metal, and it reminds me of Sumerlands. “Fallen Angel” channels the early days of Jag Panzer with big arena-ready guitars dueling with wanton vocals locked in overdrive as every ounce of meatheaded drama is wrung from the music. Sure, Mr. Wrathchild lets his voice get away from him at times, but that’s freaking metal, folks.

Song after song hits like a runaway freight train from 1985, and at no point will you want to step off the tracks. “Tear Out My Heart” feels like the bastard love child of Warlord and Savage Grace, with stunning guitars framing the kind of massive vocal drama that only 80s metal can provide. If you were looking for a burly, hard-as-nails breakup song for written for men who don’t cry, this is it. The title track channels the badass anthemic might of the criminally underappreciated Cities, and the band proudly honor their oath to keep the flame of the 80s burning bright. Just as you regain your senses, the big epic closer “Mistress of the Sun” arrives to make you love it or feel the wrath of Wrathchild. This is the same kind of larger-than-life metal tune as Krokus’ immortal “Screaming in the Night,” walking the line between anthem and power ballad and damn if it doesn’t tickle all the same nerve endings. There are no bad tracks, with each activating a major nostalgia bomb. So, what, if any, drawbacks will you encounter amid this most retro metal marination session? There are bits of bloat here and there, like on “Tear Out My Heart,” but not to the point where the songs are seriously undermined. In fact, at a tight 40 minutes, this thing feels like a fast-moving mission statement on how to properly worship the 80s, with a production about as trve to the time as one could hope for.

This is the kind of metal album that exudes guitar magic, and Highway and Owens spare no expense in decorating each song with the trappings of yesteryear. I hear many classic 80s albums referenced in their playing, and they really know the era they pay homage to. The riffs are energetic, beefy, and vibrant, and the harmonies and solos rock hard. Over the top of this solid foundation, Dee Wrathchild channels his inner metal god. Blessed with a broad range, he lets it all hang out, exploring his upper register freely and sometimes in ill-advised ways. He does seem to slip out of tune here and there when going all in, but I don’t especially care. Most of what he delivers is solid and commanding, checking all the boxes of 80s overkill and melodrama.

I love it when I blunder into some December release expecting little but getting my ass handed to me on a gleaming chrome platter. Sacred Leather bring the classic metal thunder, and if you love the sounds of the 80s, you should await the lightning strike. As winter moves ever closer, you too should Keep the Fire Burning. Any other choice would smack of flagrant poserism, and that would mean a visit from the Metal Inquisition. Be true to your olde school.

Rating: 3.5/5.0
DR: 9 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: King Volume Records / Wise Blood Records
Websites: facebook.com/leathersacredleather | instagram.com/sacred_leather
Releases Worldwide: December 12th, 2015

#2025 #35 #AgentSteel #AmericanMetal #Cities #Dec25 #HeavyMetal #JagPanzer #KeepTheFireBurning #Review #Reviews #SacredLeather #SavageGrace #SpeedMetal #Sumerlands #Vendetta #Warlord

Angra – Temple Of Shadows #cd #ParadoxxMusic #id13120021 #SpeedMetal #Microservice #AA10000 #cdpost #cdcollection #discoécultura #compactdisc #digitalaudio #GradienteS96 #PanasonicDVDS29 #kombi #noise

TYPHUS (Grècia) presenta nou àlbum: "Fate Weaver" #Typhus #SpeedMetal #ThrashMetal #Octubre2025 #Grècia #NouÀlbum #Metall #Metal #MúsicaMetal #MetalMusic

Ültra Raptör – Fossilized Review

By Grin Reaper

Cybernetic dinosaurs skirmish with a squad of Starship Troopers-inspired foot soldiers on a battle-scarred field. Eerie green mist cloaks a gutted refinery where small fires continue to blaze. Above, pocked moons loom menacingly low, while farther up, chrome font adorned with gratuitous umlauts irradiates the sky. Conventional wisdom says not to judge a book by its cover, but this is album art you can hear. If you’re not conjuring vivacious guitar acrobatics, lock-step rhythmic thunder, and macho bellows, then you aren’t paying attention. Ültra Raptör is here to crack open a cold one and unleash sophomore effort Fossilized. So buckle up, buckaroo. Grab your mandatory Molson and let this quintet of Canucks hit you “Hard ‘N Fast” with their take on heavy speed metal.

Have I ever wondered what Judas Priest might sound like if they teamed up with Blaze Bayley to write Screaming for Vengeance II? No. But Ültra Raptör approximates that hypothetical effort on Fossilized. Musically speaking, Fossilized sits comfortably between Priest’s 80s era and modern Riot V. Slick guitar leads, rumbly bass grooves, and punchy drums support hooky-as-fook choruses and flashy solos. The music is kinetic, and anyone who appreciates a slice of NWoBHM should find plenty of toe-tapping, headbangable moments. Ültra Raptör doesn’t do anything new on Fossilized, but they never claim to. These fellas are just here to cook up tales of heavy metal, dinosaurs, and haulin’ ass, and by God, they do that with aplomb.

Fossilized charms effortlessly, churning out melodies and earworms so sticky that I can’t shake them from my gray matter. The first four tracks set an imposing standard, where “Fossilized” and “Hard ‘N Fast” are my personal favorites, and “Spinosaurus” and “Living’ for the Riff” never falter. Guitarists Criss Raptör and Zoltan Saurus lead the assault, with riffs, licks, and leads blitzing your ears with cocksure blasts.1 From the opening moments of “Fossilized,” the six-string theatrics never let up. I’ve listened to my share of albums where I was duped by a single, only to discover the rest of the album failed to live up to the soaring heights promised. Ültra Raptör peddles no such dreck. Growling bottom-end Dick Van Heuß bolsters each track with brawny bass. Though spotlights are rare, Van Heuß constantly lurks below, ever present if you listen past the rest of the electrifying onslaught. No laggard himself, drummer Tony Bronco revs up the kit and does a tremendous job of setting a searing pace (“X-Celerator”2). Meanwhile, vocalist Phil T. Lung croons through nine tracks with his gritty baritone. I expect his voice will be the most divisive part of Ültra Raptör’s sound, and while he’s capable, it’s not the typical torsion-induced falsettos regularly featured in the genre. Though he mostly evokes Blaze Bayley, a few moments ring of Dave Brockie. The ensuing amalgam is a potent brewski—one best consumed with a mullet and a pack of cigs crammed into your denim jacket.

Ültra Raptör’s fearlessness begets a raucous and engaging listen, though adjustments could have elevated Fossilized. In total, they deliver forty-one minutes of filler-less heavy metal (less instrumental “Le Voyageur d’Oort,” a decent but unremarkable minute). The mix permits everyone to shine and contains enough depth to appreciate what passes for nuance in such an outrageous concept. Revisiting the vocals, Lung is proficient and never lacks the gusto to match the music’s energy. Despite that, I wish there was more variety in his singing. Either harnessing more falsettos like on debut Tyrants or bringing in a guest singer could add enough extra spice to kick things up a notch. Singing aside, the chief knock on Fossilized is a lack of originality. I don’t believe this will or should prevent anyone from enjoying what Ültra Raptör does here, but it defines a ceiling that’s extremely difficult to push past.

Ültra Raptör pumps testosterone-fueled, chest-thumping vigor into Fossilized, constructing an over-the-top arrogance that would crumble with less conviction. The album exudes fun because of the utter commitment to the bit, and unless you’re allergic to a good time, I highly recommend checking out Fossilized. It’s not an album that will change anyone’s mind about what heavy or speed metal offers, but it is an excellent example of what makes a very good record within those confines.

Rating: Very Good
DR: 5 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Fighter Records
Websites: Bandcamp | Facebook
Releases Worldwide: October 7th, 2025

#2025 #35 #BlazeBayley #CanadianMetal #FighterRecords #Fossilized #HeavyMetal #JudasPriest #Oct25 #Review #Reviews #Riot #RiotV #SpeedMetal #ÜltraRaptör

Crucible – Hail to the Force Review

By Steel Druhm

By: Nameless_n00b_604

Whether you’re a fledgling artist or an industry veteran, the process of making music is hard, strewn with obstacles internal and external. For the speed/US-inspired power metallers Crucible, that obstacle was Mother Nature, who gifted them a massive snowstorm that drastically impeded their studio time to record their debut album Hail to the Force. The Danes, thus, banged out the entire ten-track, thirty-seven-minute record in a week. For a young band recording a debut together, that’s nuts. But we’re not here for the story—we’re here for the album, a throwback affair of promo-purported “ferocious aggression with strong melodies and epic heavy metal atmospheres.” Did Nature not want this thing made, or was she testing Crucible to give Hail to the Force the fire they need to stand amongst the Metal Gods they venerate?

Crucible really likes the ’80s. Throughout Hail to the Force, Crucible administer Judas Priestly heroics at Riotous speeds, ripping Defenders of the Faith leads on the title track and injecting “Savage Weapon” with Thundersteel adrenaline. Openers “Deathdealer” and “Embrace of Steele” are as archetypically speed metal as they come, awash with thundering drums and bass by Ole Iversen and Kenneth Frandsen respectively, soaring vocals by Phillip Butler (Pectora) and massively palm-muted riffs by guitarists Thomas Carnell (Impalers) and Jon Brogård. “Manic Minute” sees Butler deliver power metal wails as the band rages with Motörhead delinquency, while “Far Beyond the Grave” revels in the retro futuristic aesthetics of Iron Maiden’s Somewhere in Time. They even recall fellow throwback acts, deploying belligerent vocals on “Evilforce” reminiscent of Livewire and the modernly loud, yet organic production of Riot City. Without question, Crucible is married to their influences.

Crucible brings talent and vitality to Hail to the Force, but never escapes their influences’ shadows. Stomping the pedal down and rarely letting up, with “Evilforce” and “Mad Minute” showcasing their most frantic capabilities, Crucible can’t be accused of sluggishness. Neither could their guitarists be justly labeled as shlubs: their solos are brimming with sharp, vintage shredding and tasteful sweeping. But too often, Crucible stick to the speed metal playbook like glue. “Deathdealer,” “Savage Weapon” and the title track mimic thrashy power metal riffs and piercing wails done countless times before them, leaving little of their own DNA in the mix. Rhythmically, Crucible keeps it basic, only flirting with groove on “Far Beyond the Grave” and some surprise stop-and-starts throughout. Unexpectedly, the instrumental “While My Guitar Gently Sweeps” with its Bladerunner-evocative synth-scape, relaxed tempo and root-note-escaping bass lines showcase Crucible at their freshest and reveal how one-note much of the other songs can be. Hail to the Force is undeniably fun, but its derivativeness leaves it stuck in the realm of mere tribute.

Sadly, awkward songwriting pulls Hail to the Force down further. Crucible’s short-and-sweet songcraft is admirable, demonstrating a willingness to self-edit, but many tracks feel somewhat half-baked. “Deathdealer’s” solo ends anticlimactically, while “Mad Minute” wraps up with little resolution following its solo. Despite short runtimes, over-repetition remains a problem, with “Redwing” wearing thin its Maidenesque “oh-oh” bridge and the title track wearing its name out with overuse. Vocals can also flounder, as Butler’s lines—kept primarily to a high, strained register—are sometimes clunky. “Embrace of Steele’s” chorus sounds off-balance, like it’s rushing through its last couple lines, while the melismatic runs in “Far Beyond the Grave” don’t sound strictly in-key. Butler’s best performance is on “Splashed to the Four Winds,” a Judas Priest-like bruiser where he plays a veritable Halford and, coincidentally, sings lower than normal. Nothing on Hail to the Force is bad or—worse—boring, but enough nitpicks keep most of Crucible’s offerings from reaching their fullest potential.

Hail to the Force is enjoyable, but I know Crucible have more interesting material in them. Crucible know how to trim down, which is half the battle of good music, but now they need to learn when to let loose. If the power and chutzpah Crucible exhibited on this record were to appear on a more adventurously diverse sophomore release, it would make for a gangbusters follow-up. But as is, fans of the olde school will likely appreciate Hail to the Force’s retro aesthetics, youthful enthusiasm, and proficient musicianship. I just hope Mother Nature cuts Crucible a break for their next one.

Rating: Mixed.
DR: 6 | Review Format: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: From the Vaults
Websites: crucibledk.bandcamp | facebook.com/cruciblespeedmetal | instagram.com/cruciblespeedmetal
Release Date: September 12th, 2025

#25 #2025 #Crucible #DanishMetal #FromTheVaults #HailToTheForce #HeavyMetal #IronMaiden #JudasPriest #LiveWire #Motörhead #PowerMetal #Review #Reviews #Riot #RiotCity #RiotV #Sep25 #SpeedMetal

TYPHUS (Grècia) presenta nou single: "I Stand Defiant" #Typhus #SpeedMetal #ThrashMetal #Setembre2025 #Grècia #NouSingle #Metall #Metal #MúsicaMetal #MetalMusic

RIOT V (Estats Units) presenta nou àlbum en directe: "Live in Osaka 1990" #RiotV #HeavyMetal #PowerMetal #SpeedMetal #Juny2025 #EstatsUnits #NouÀlbumEnDirecte #Metall #Metal #MúsicaMetal #MetalMusic

RIOT V (Estats Units) presenta nou àlbum en directe: "Live in Staten Island 1983" #RiotV #HeavyMetal #PowerMetal #SpeedMetal #Juny2025 #EstatsUnits #NouÀlbumEnDirecte #Metall #Metal #MúsicaMetal #MetalMusic

TYPHUS (Grècia) presenta nou single: "Only Ashes Remain" #Typhus #SpeedMetal #ThrashMetal #Maig2025 #Grècia #NouSingle #Metall #Metal #MúsicaMetal #MetalMusic

SPEEDTRAP Vol. I

Batiment 7, Saturday, April 12 at 04:00 PM EDT

Viridian Cult Productions presents:

SPEEDTRAP Vol. I

Prepare for a night of unholy and ripping speed metal punk at Bâtiment 7 for the inaugural edition of SPEEDTRAP, a new (hopefully) annual festial in Montreal dedicated to unrelenting tempos and old school sounds.

On the afternoon of Saturday, April 12th, 2025, 11 bands will take the stage at Bâtiment 7 with one purpose: rockin' the fvck out. Join us for this frenzied ritual of razor-sharp sonic terror!

The lineup for this year's event from first to last:

- Leash Aggression
- Mistwalker
- Anti-Criss (Rimouski)
- Motorwolf
- Feed
- Street Panther
- Tonnerre
- The Watcher (Boston)
- Barrow Wight (Ottawa)
- Occult Burial
- Metalian

Tickets are $30 ($33.28 with Eventbrite's fees) in advance, $40 at the door.

@ Bâtiment 7
1900 Rue le Ber, Montreal
Doors / Portes 16:00h
Show / Spectacle 16:30h
NO PUNK TIME
18+ (ID Required)

Tickets available through Eventbrite at this link:
https://www.eventbrite.ca/.../speedtrap-vol-i-tickets...

Poster by the ever-talented Ghastly McNasty.

https://montreal.askapunk.net/event/speedtrap-vol-i