BLOODLETTER - A DIFFERENT KIND OF HELL

OLD SCHOOL THRASH CORE DEVOID OF SOCIAL AWARENESS

You wonder if anyone who has been associated with thrash in any way has ever been informed they are uncool. Bloodletter wouldn’t care if you did; they seem devoid of any awareness of fashions or trendiness and would probably look blankly at the mention of Travis Scott. This band come from Chicago US and play unadulterated, fret-melting old school sub-Big Four 80s thrash with the speed and hooks reminiscent of Dark Angel or even Kreator. This is offset, however, with touches of 2000s metalcore-isms of As I Lay Dying or Unearth.

A New Kind of Hell is rammed full of walls and balls to them. The band don’t really obfuscate matters or let up over this whole record of exuberant headbanging. Essentially, what you get on the first track is what you will get throughout the entire record. The vocal delivery of guitarist Pete Carparelli sounds not too dissimilar to Kreator’s Mille Petrozza but more hardcore-ish and less Fraggle Rock. The buzzing fretwork, meanwhile, is highly accomplished and recalls the hide tide mark of thrash with some ascendant moments like From Hell They Came, The Last Tomb or the frenetic Obsidian Offering. But really, you can take your pick from any track.

It isn’t party metal but there is a definite feel-good factor and one gets the impression from the atmosphere and cliché-worship alone that Bloodletter enjoy themselves and it is infectious. Even the slightly blackened edge to their aesthetic has a celebratory appeal. Though playing with earnestness and genuine love of the craft there it is also good fun like a big beery grin an old school pit.

A Different Kind of Hell is released via Wise Blood Records