Review by Dominik on March 23, 2025.

Hirax is back, and this time, they're determined to be Faster Than Death. Judging by the flood of reviews that appeared before the first physical copy even hit the shelves, it seems many reviewers wanted to be even faster than Hirax. Normally, I'd wait before jumping into the fray, as some albums need time to reveal their full character and disclose their secrets. But in this case, the situation is different. 21 minutes, nine songs, four of which were already released on the Faster Than Death EP, plus a re-recording of "Warlord's Command" from their debut album—this isn't exactly an impenetrable wall of complexity. But does it break new ground, or is it just another lap around the same well-worn track?

As always, certain discussions re-emerge whenever Hirax releases new material. Katon de Pena's vocal delivery, the question of whether Hirax really qualifies as thrash metal, and, to a lesser extent, whether they will ever reach the pantheon of elite extreme metal bands. Let's address these in the light of the new album.

By now, it's beyond dispute: Katon de Pena is Hirax, and Hirax is Katon de Pena. After more than 40 years and countless lineup changes, this fact is as solid as my Wi-Fi connection during an important video call. He is the reason this band still exists. But he also continues to be one of the more polarizing frontmen in the genre. His voice remains an acquired taste—too melodic for some, too wretched for others, and occasionally veering into the downright theatrical. Faster Than Death does nothing to change this. But at this point, if you're still reviewing Hirax just to complain about his voice, that says more about you than about the band. It's like ordering spinach just to tell the chef you've always hated spinach. Personally, I must give him credit: after four decades, he still sounds like himself rather than a sad self-parody like "Nasty" Ronny on the latest Nasty Savage release.

Thrash or not? Who cares? Hirax has always existed in a stylistic gray zone. Their foundation is built on thrashing riffs, yet the - at times - short song lengths and hardcore-tinged delivery make categorization tricky. And then, of course, Katon de Pena does whatever the hell he wants, further muddying the waters. Hirax exists in its own lane, refusing to be neatly categorized. What makes it difficult to satisfy human's compulsion to measure something against something else. Like in your youth. Girls measured the length of their hair, boys the length of their…. (CENSORED). People love to compare bands to genre standards, but at this point, Hirax can only be measured against Hirax, and by that metric Faster Than Death is exactly what you'd expect—no more, no less.

Hirax 2025 is not much different to the band in 1985, what in itself is a huge achievement. Just think of the many half-baked comebacks of bands like Evildead, which stopped being Evildead when releasing "The Underworld" or the above-mentioned Nasty Savage which fails to revive the charm of their earlier works on their more current releases.

The album is a relentless speed-fest, perfect for anyone who occasionally enjoys violently dislocating their vertebrae from time to time. The good news? The new songs hit with the same ferocity as the tracks from the EP. The bad news? The new songs hit with the same ferocity as the tracks from the EP. You get the idea. Even when tracks like "Armageddon" stretch past the usual runtime, the approach remains unchanged—just longer sections and solos. The riffs are old-school and, at times, a bit generic ("Relentless" comes to mind), but they serve their purpose well, backed by a surprisingly audible bass. The shorter songs are gone before you can even process them, though none feel incomplete. The above mentioned "Relentless" is a good example, why Hirax's style is not 100% thrash. The way the faster parts are played give me a strong punkish vibe, before the track mid-song collapses into an exchangeable slow-down.

Even when "Revenant" nearly hits the four minutes mark, what in Hirax's book is probably the closest to their version of "Satan's Fall", the band doesn't lose itself in progressive acrobatics. That they decided to re-record one of the best songs of their debut album ("Warlord's Command") is ok—a nice little throwback, but when you're already working with just eight new songs, it feels a bit like reheating leftovers instead of cooking something fresh.

So, is Faster Than Death the triumphant return I was hoping for? Not quite. But is it a step down from the EP? Also no. Hirax sounds like Hirax, and in an era where many bands return just to tarnish their legacy, that consistency is something to appreciate. If you love them, you'll love this. If you don't, why are you still here?

Rating: 7.8 out of 10, because even if Faster Than Death doesn't break new ground, it at least makes sure that ground is thoroughly trampled at high velocity.

Review by Felix on February 25, 2025.

Hirax started in 1984 and this alone makes some people believe that they belong to the battalion of influential thrash pioneers. I am not able to share this point of view, although the band has written a few cool titles such as "Blitzkrieg Air Attack" or "Lightning Thunder", but all in all they always wasted their potential or they had none at all. Maybe some of their miniature songs had no sufficient substance, but even those which were promising mostly ended after 75 seconds. Okay, I paint the picture more drastic than it really was, but I hope you know what I mean.

Compared with Hate, Fear And Power, the new "full-length" (hahaha, just a joke) delivers the epic playtime of almost 22 minutes. Hirax still try to bring the majority of their tracks to an end before they have the smallest possibility to develop any kind of individuality and strength. Katon's voice is still a trademark, but his rather unusual style does not fascinate me. Sometimes he intends to deliver something remote similar to a vocal line, sometimes he sounds like a hardcore shouter. But okay, his performance doesn't completely suck and Hirax without him is like Hirax without Hirax. Moreover, I appreciate his stamina and his metal credibility, but that's it. The voice of Mr. de Pena fills the centre of the production, the guitars are sidelined. Thank God that they can show their force during the instrumental sections. But even there we have to face a problem, because the solos are terribly meaningless. The one of "Drill Into The Brain" with a hand-stopped length of 2,5 seconds appears as an idiotic burlesque. By contrast, some sharp, ominous and promising riffs and lines appear as well. But I will come to the positive sides later. Right now, I need to say that I will never understand the value – is there one at all? – of these Hirax songs which are pressed into their less than two minutes corset. Of course, thrash grenades can be short, among other things due to a few punk roots of the genre, but this should never be the entire concept of the musical offering.

Fortunately Hirax show that they can swim in songs like "Armageddon". It has this devilish high-velocity element that has made the band great (well, more or less great), a lot of energy and dynamic. But the guys drown in tracks like "Drowned Bodies" (an intended self-irony can be excluded), where a terrible solo meets rasping mid-paced guitars we have heard a million times before. Anyway, the title track is symptomatic for the tragedy of the band. A good start catches my attention, but after the mid-paced intro the song is almost already over and a worthless solo, a "Reign in Blood" solo in bad and short, ruins the last seconds. By the way, speaking of Slayer's last masterpiece, a break in "Relentless" pays tribute to this milestone, but that's rather charming than something I have to criticize. The same applies for the copying of the intro of "Hell Awaits" in "Revenant". Much worse is the miserable vocal line at the beginning. Perhaps this is a reminiscence to a very bad Helstar track, who knows?

In a nutshell, this is a release I could live very well without. And I don't understand why the band released an EP with four of the songs of the album in advance. Even if the versions should slightly differ from each other, this makes no sense from my conservative point of view. However, the two songs at the end deliver a few reasons why Hirax still have the right of existence. They are consistent and powerful (and I try to ignore Katon's vocals). Nevertheless, I cannot imagine that Hirax appeal to a broad audience in the late autumn of their career.

Rating: 5 out of 10