Review by Greg on June 21, 2023.

If there's one country which never was in dire need for killer thrash bands, Canada would surely compete for that position. Luckily for all of us, five guys from British Columbia didn't care and took the entire world by storm in 2017, coming more or less out of nowhere. The album in question was Terrifier's Weapons of Thrash Destruction, which unfortunately never got a sequel so far. What might be less known is, the lads had already a full-length under their belt, dating back to their early days as the unimaginatively named Skull Hammer. The fact that they even cared about re-issuing it under their new moniker might imply that this Destroyers of the Faith will offer a good dose of serious business as well...

Unsurprisingly, if one is accustomed to what the band sounded like on their sophomore, here we basically get Terrifier-lite. Kyle "holy shit I haven't played a blast beat in one full minute" Sheppard wasn't among the ranks yet, and vocalist Chase Thibodeau isn't as hysterical in his delivery. Axemen extraordinaire Brent Gallant and Rene Wilkinson are already in top form though, so guitar solos are, once again, the eye-catching (and grin-inducing) feature. Now, Weapons of Thrash Destruction's constant quest for extremity somehow made up for the not exceptionally innovative songwriting, even if reducing it to 'the mediocre thrash album with out of this world solos' is admittedly an injustice. Destroyers of the Faith is definitely cut from the same cloth, even if the band appears an iota more restrained in their performances, offering the compositions a decent amount of room to breathe. Already the opener isn't just a predictable spiritual predecessor to 'Re-Animator', 'The Valkyrie' being a more measured gallop (please applaud this ingenious pun) for a good while before the minute-long solo in the middle steps up the game.

When the call for high-octane thrash metal arrives, indeed, Jerome Brewer is no slouch either behind the skins. 'Hammer Fist' and especially the friendly 'Scum Ridden Filth' are more conventional Terrifier material, the latter even surprising with a great melodic(!) intro, though the real gem of Destroyers of the Faith comes at its very end, with the killer title-track which would give any song of the sophomore a run for its money. As you may have grasped now, though, the album is unexpectedly varied, with 'The Age of Steel' exemplifying all its facets in 7 glorious minutes (the extended central lead section may as well be their finest ever), and there's even a very Exmortus-esque proper instrumental in 'Of Victory and Valour'. From a compositional point of view, it almost seems that this was the actual second album.

So, even if, at first glance, it may look like Destroyers of the Faith was rendered virtually obsolete by the time Weapons of Thrash Destruction came out, and that's partly true, there are actually several aspects of this debut I prefer, like the more frequent excursions into slower territories, the occasional melodic playing, or even its sound, not nearly as compressed and overproduced as its successor. In any case, the more digestible vocal delivery and less extreme drumming, as well as the always stellar leadwork, make it an effort worth listening for every fellow thrasher out there.

In a way, it will moderately quench the thirst for more Terrifier for a while. Now what about a new album?

Rating: 8.1 out of 10