Review by Fernando on December 19, 2023.

Thrash metal is a very reliable type of subgenre within metal, and it's also very versatile, as any band can be very serious about it, or have fun with it. And today we have a case of the former, Bestial Reviler is a Russian thrash band that has apparently decided to reform, and this brand new EP is their first offering of new material. Being unfamiliar with this band, I decided to give this a shot.

Since this is an EP I’ll get my one gripe with it right now, it’s short, by the time it ends I feel like the band teased me, and at just under 16 minutes it is definitely a tease. That being said, I also appreciate that the band was able to pack those 16 minutes up with excellent material. Bestial Reviler’s particular style of thrash metal is very much indebted to early Sodom and Kreator, a bit of Bathory and rounded up with a strong influence from early Sepultura and Sarcófago. So by mentioning those bands you can definitely expect some intense and raw thrash metal with hits of death metal and black metal, particularly with the vocals of frontman, bassist and only original member Misotheist, who gives some appropriately guttural growling which feels like it will be reeking of beer. And while the band aren’t reinventing the wheel or anything, they sure know their way around old school underground thrash metal, if you told me this record was from 1989, I would believe it.

In regards to the details, the band is a really tight unit, which is surprising since Misotheist’s new bandmates are from Peru and Finland, and the band relocated to the Czech Republic. I bring the band being an international affair because again, they’re a strong unit, for as short as this EP is, they wasted no time at all, there’s absolutely no filler, and their performances are uniformly great, Misotheist aside from being a good growler is also a very proficient bassist, being able to be very fast and also have enough groove to set himself apart from the guitars. And speaking of the guitars Ger Pivopath Six, is a master shredder, his riffs and soloing alone are a reason to check this EP, but his best display of skill is his dynamism, as he’s able to shred with both fast and mid pace. And last but not least is Rektor, and you guessed it, he’s excellent as well, like Ger, he also effortlessly switches between fast and mid pace, but more importantly, his drumming gives the music punk edge that often gets lost in thrash metal bands. So all in all, excellent musicians displaying how good thrash metal can sound with skilled musicians playing their instruments.

The production is the last element I wanted to highlight primarily because Ger Pivopath Six did the mixing and mastering, but also because the band were able to tread a fine line between having an appropriately gritty production and without sacrificing fidelity or sounding dated, the songs sound like they were recorded in the late 80’s but there’s finer details in the mix that show this is a modern record, particularly the vocals and the drums, which sound very good, and if you know your classic underground extreme metal records, that usually wasn’t the case. This isn’t a criticism, mind you, as the band successfully pays homage to the past without being chained to it.

Overall for a comeback EP Bestial Reviler sure did make up for all that lost time, while I still would’ve preferred a full album, I respect the band for taking things easy given the fact its a completely new lineup and they reformed during the pandemic. Nevertheless this is still an excellent display of their skills and a good tease of whatever’s to come next.

Rating: 8 out of 10