Review by Vladimir on March 18, 2024.

Some years ago, when a friend of mine came to my place and showed me this awesome German speed/thrash metal band Vulture, my life suddenly decided to take a 180 degree spin. I rarely have doubts about pure oldschool metal bands of the modern era, but in the case of Vulture, that one really managed to kick me straight in the nuts and say “welcome to the party!” Their discography has been great so far, without a weak or anticlimactic album to be found, and so they decided to spread the wings of the merciless scavenger once again. Their fourth full-length album Sentinels is due to be released on April 12th, 2024 via Metal Blade Records, and so far, the expectations have been overwhelmingly high since the latest single 'Unhallowed & Forgotten' came out. If you are not ready to spill blood on the battlefield and face the coming storm, then feel free to turn your back and perish in flames, but if you are willing to see what this album has prepared for you, then get ready to bang your head all the way through! 

From the very first track 'Scream From The Abattoir', this ravenous beast is already screaming for vengeance with violence and force, striking hard with all they got. Not even a moment of thought and you already hear that the Vulture is hungry for blood, as the raw energy with furious speed, melody and headbanging action dominates throughout their riffs, screaming vocals and tight drumming. The single 'Unhallowed & Forgotten' still remains one of the strongest and memorable tracks on this album that perfectly teased the upcoming devastation, but despite being a brilliant album teaser, it certainly isn’t anywhere near as good as what you are about to witness. As the album goes in motion with all the speed/thrash metal murder, you will notice that their songs are packed with some 80’s metal influences, ranging from Accept to 80’s Metallica to Exciter and Agent Steel, as well as many other quintessential 80’s heavy, thrash or speed metal. The best examples that showcase the aforementioned influences are 'Transylvania/ Realm Of The Impaler', 'Draw Your Blades', 'Gargoyles' and 'Oathbreaker', all of which are excellent tracks that shed even more royal blood on the chess board. A wise man said, 'Where There's A Whip (There Is a Way)', and so does the sixth track on this album make its way to be one of the outstanding destroyers that causes absolute whiplash from your intense headbanging. This album has plenty of surprising bits, with one example being instrumental track 'Der Tod Trägt Schwarzes Leder' that showcases a more classical music direction that jumps straight into 'Death Row' to continue ripping its way through. There is no denying that this album is just packed with excellent killer songs that rock out with absolute glory in any possible tempo, be it slow or fast, and they leave no head unbanged. The album flows so smoothly and yet so heavy at the same time, with every track building up the excitement to the very last bit, leading to the grand finale 'Sentinels (Heavier Than Time)', a superb conclusion to this magnificent experience that no one could predict. 

Vulture’s dynamic and rich songwriting has always relied on traditional elements from heavy, speed and thrash metal, with a strong effort to take everything great about their music to its absolute peak. They certainly went ahead of their way to continue producing excellence and aggression through musical simplicity, with adrenaline flowing through every song while succeeding to keep maximum attention at all times. Truth be told, there is nothing about this album that kills the mood or breaks concentration, because it’s all so focused and consistent with its fluent transition from one track to another. All three maniacal string players with their crimson BC Rich Ironbirds dominate with the drums and vocals that they simply refuse to give the listener a break, because an album such as this is not meant to be an easy ride. If you can’t take the heat, then go home! The artwork by Guatemalan artist Mario López also deserves a mention for a multitude of reasons, but mostly due to its stylistic brilliance that conveys the musical mayhem of Vulture in physical form, as well as for absolutely nailing the essence of previous works by Velio Josto on the previous three albums. Once again, the album production is just as excellent as it was on their previous three albums, leaving no room for any sterile or pretentious modern sound that plagues the world of oldschool metal. 

Sentinels turned out to be exactly what I wanted from Vulture, dealin’ death with more power and more adrenaline that crushes all those who would dare to oppose. This album is “all killer no filler” and I had no doubt about Sentinels whatsoever, because Vulture always managed to surpass all my expectations. Their task was very simple, conquer and deliver, and so they did! When the time is right, check out their new album Sentinels, because every track and every second of music matters from start to finish, no skipping allowed! 

Rating: 9.7 out of 10

Review by Michael on January 24, 2024.

After the tragic loss of their long-time vocalist Andy Kaina who died in 2022 the band didn't give up and managed to recover from this tragedy. Although Andy left a gap that is hard to fill for sure, the band found a great new vocalist Marcus Seebach who - let me emphasize this – does an amazing job on Christus Hypercubus.

So, here we are with the 7th full-length album in Messiah's career, however, it is a pity that the band is still that underrated and more underground than deserved. Of course they had some really mediocre albums like Underground in their discography but also some really cool stuff like my fave Rotten Perish or their latest output Fracmont which also had some lengths in the songwriting though. So, the Swiss have tightened up their songs and focused more on gloomy melodies and cool riffs. The approach is much thrashier than on Fracmont and the songs are much more comprehensible on this one. Apart from the strange title where in my mind I connect a flying Jesus in a Borg cubus, I have to admit that I feared for the new album when I listened to the title track the first time. 'Christus Hypercubus' is the bulkiest song on the album with a lot of technical, repetitive and sluggish riffs which doesn't make it the best one to introduce the album. There are many others though, much more interesting and varied ones on the album which could or should've been picked. 'Once Upon A Time…Nothing' is probably one of the fastest songs they've ever written and this one is a real brutal death-thrash metal bastard with super aggressive vocals. A lot of Slayer vibes appear here to kick ass and this is probably one of the best songs they've done since Rotten Perish. 'Soul Observatory' is pure thrash (only with some death metal vocals) and moves straight ahead. The riffing is simple but very effective and this is one of the catchiest tracks with some atmospheric twists and turns in the middle of it. There is an acoustic part where there was some thrash and all of a sudden it has gone again. Great effect!

'Venus Baroness I' and 'Venus Baroness II' are some really groovy closers of the album (though 'closers' may be the wrong term for two tracks with a running time of 11 minutes together), but Messiah managed to write some rousing melodies with great hooks. Again they mix up some heavy thrash and death elements to a galloping tempo and so these two tracks don't appear to last 11 minutes but like maybe some diverting 5 minutes or so. I guess this is what makes out a good album. Oh, and if you want to relax a little bit, they have written 'Speedsucker Romance' for moments like this which is a slow creeping song without too many exciting moments in it. But beware, after this song the 'Centipede Bite' is waiting for you to bite you in your balls! I would say that Messiah has written a very good album with Christus Hypercubus which probably is one of the best albums in their discography. Apart from two average songs they did a very convincing job on their songwriting and also the production is powerful and well-balanced. This wasn't always so – I just say Choir Of Horrors (where are the vocals???).

Rating: 8.7 out of 10 (Anti)Christian Borg cubes