DEMOLIZER – Post Necrotic Human

RELEASE YEAR: 2023

BAND URL: http://www.demolizerthrash.com/

Something I have not presented in a good while here is a thrash metal album and it just so happens that the Danish quartet Demolizer has released their 2nd (after Thrashmageddon²⁰²⁰ 2 years after conception as Demolizer) full length creepily named Post Necrotic Human²⁰²³ on July 4th on Mighty Music, and a good one at that. Formerly known as Radtskaffen, the act, post their 2014 inception, released just Worldwide Anarchy²⁰¹⁶ EP Polle Radtleff (guitars, vocals), Bjørn Hjortgaard (bass) leaving Christian Maj Albrektsen (drummer) behind adding and changing name to Demolizer with the result that the new ensemble features Polle Radtleff (guitars, vocals), Bjørn Hjortgaard (bass), Aria Mobbarez (guitars) and Max Petrén Bach Hansen (drummer), so as to unleash their San Francisco Bay Area-like concoction of thrash, death, crossover and traditional metal with a few surprises for good measure.

A great thrash metal song ought to have great riffs, a hook or two, a great and catchy chorus and at least one transition and all those marks are checked on the excellent favorite “The Butcher” evocative of early Metallica, Slayer and Kreator with an opening reminiscent of mid era Death, which was, after all, a death and thrash hybrid already on their first album. Demolizer is also reminiscent of Dead Head in that melding of those two genres into one, or, should we say three, as the second favorite, the slow burning ballad “Killing A Friend” (I’m shedding my skin?) smacks of that better Pantera (check out Polle’s the “dead issue” Phil Anselmian murmuring whispers in the verses) season they always preferred to their humble and freaky beginnings, as well as Suicidal Tendencies and, again, Metallica but here specifically Ride The Lightening¹⁹⁸⁴, a track as brilliant as the Four Horsemen’s sophomore release, while the savage but painfully realistic indictment of feudalism dressed as capitalism dominating the modern world, “The Wheel”, screams classic Exodus while littered with Rust In Piece¹⁹⁹⁰ Megadeth mini solos and, finally, the closer “Warmonger” is a tasty burger in the vein of Testament, Carcass (only expected given the album cover), Deceased (from the legendary Fearless Undead Machines¹⁹⁹⁷) and even The Chasm.

The rest of the tracks never go above a 4.5 mark with one, “Fascist State” the least eventful despite packing a mighty angry punch. Interestingly, “Crossfire”, dedicated to the failure of the United States in Afghanistan, the longest war my country has ever been engaged in (2002-2022), is preceded by President’s Joe Biden’s declaration of withdrawal and ended with his startling revelation “we’ve spent over a trillion dollars” but leaves me longing for more choruses, melody, transitions, twists and turns. It seems at 43:52 minutes and 10 tracks there could have been more variety and daring progression but, hey, Demolizer is first of all a primitive thrash metal act and all else is a bonus, the fact which I’m sure many will find sufficient to heap praises and accolades on Post Necrotic Human²⁰²³, perhaps, even awarding a greater score in the end.