Review by ChadL on February 5, 2002.

Oregon's Thy Infernal are one of those bands that aren't terribly original, but still play their music with passion and conviction. On "Warlords of Hell", Thy Infernal dish out 7 tracks of harsh, aggressive black metal, with a strong thrash influence.

The leadoff track ’Armageddon’ is a balls to the wall blaster, showing Thy Infernal in all their blasphemous furry. While not very technical (only about 4 different riffs in here), it serves as a good starting point for the rest of the album to build off of. ’Rotting in Hell’s main riff has a very epic sound, and brings to mind a European band, namely Dissection. But then doesn't last long, as they soon switch gears into a thrashy bridge. This is one of the better tracks on the album, showcasing this band's potential. ‘Dark Winds Unfurl’ starts with a riff that wouldn't be out of place on a Sodom or Kreator album, but then morphs into a feverish blackened attack.

This is my favorite song on the album, due to the variety of styles it involves, and it's catchy as hell (I know... black metal and "catchy" should be an oxymoron, but Thy Infenal does it well, without losing and brutality) Every time I listen to this album the song plays in my head for hours afterwards! There are even a couple awesome solos in this one! The rest of the tracks are all good, but don't stick out as much.

The production on this album is somewhat muddy, but it really doesn't hurt the music any. The production actually adds to the music, making it sound more aggressive and vintage. The instruments are competently played, but with no real innovation. Somehow this all works together to create an enjoyable listen, and by the end of it your neck should be mighty sore! This band shows promise, and I’m very interested to see if they can build off this solid foundation and evolve into one of America's leading black metal bands.

Bottom Line: "Warlords of Hell" may not be a groundbreaking release, but it's not meant to be. It's a solid album that had me headbanging all the way through!

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 7
Atmosphere: 8
Production: 7
Originality: 6
Overall: 7

Rating: 7 out of 10