Review by Greg on September 23, 2025.

In a scene saturated with a plethora of up-and-coming acts, young thrash bands need to immediately step up their game, in order to leave their mark on listeners around. Some, on the other hand, choose a different path altogether, like Sweden's Tuck from Hell, which opted for a total revamp of their mission statement, starting from their name, to an unexpected frontman change. Now, perhaps first impressions aren't Rifforia's forte – monikers with the word 'riff' in them often sound cheap and rarely intrigue me, to say nothing of the equally corny title and artwork of their official debut Axeorcism. Luckily, music is what really matters, and discovering what lies behind the presentation is definitely more interesting – not much for its thrash/power formula per se, but for the cool parenting story behind it. The band indeed features well-known vocalist Nils Patrik Johansson, recruited by his son Nils Fredrik who plays drums here, and while I can't help but picture him as one of those wannabe-cool dads who try to bond with their sons by embarrassingly doing young people things, his pedigree (including all kinds of power metal bands like Wuthering Heights, Astral Doors, or Civil War) more than speaks for him, just like it worked for Steve Souza and Max Cavalera in the past.

While this isn't something you hear every day, neither Axeorcism is. Unsurprisingly, the elder Johansson brings his traditional timbre to the table, and he's pretty much a dead ringer for Ronnie James Dio, of all people (seriously, the way he says the word 'light' on 'Sea Of Pain' had me double-checking if he hadn't resurrected unbeknown to me – fyi, seems like he sadly didn't). Sounds interesting? At least it did to me. I don't recall any other band attempting this blend of styles, and I sure as hell have never heard somebody doing it this way. Tracks like 'Sea Of Pain' and 'Death Row Child' wouldn't be out of place on an album like Flotsam and Jetsam's I Am the Weapon, or would be easy highlights on Heathen's Empire of the Blind, if you prefer. The former, in particular, is one hell of a scorcher – frantic, light-speed riffs saw through with a massive guitar tone and never let go, it's one of those tracks that wouldn't sound any less heavy if Sabrina Carpenter was behind the mic.

So why the relatively low score, if it seems I'm about to get carried away altogether with enthusiasm? Well, a part of the reason might be that, simply, those are the only two songs in that style. Hearing what was more or less a novelty in modern thrash, and most of all rather digging it, makes me wonder why the hell Rifforia didn't go all in with it. The Axeorcism's EPK stating that the album was technically ready-to-serve, and only lacked vocals before the metal dad stepped in, doesn't 100% convince me; it's a premise that would make one expect, you know, loads of this full-throttle modern thrash attacks with clean vocals, with maybe even a couple moments where the latter didn't really fit in, but worth overlooking. Instead, the remaining tracks mostly consist of chunky midtempo riffs, and I can't believe that, say, opener 'A Game You Don't Understand' wasn't at least partially modeled on Nils Patrik's voice, instead of the average screamer they had previously.

On the upside, it's definitely more of a personal disappointment than a huge complaint, as most of them are enjoyable, and the leads consistently awesome. Refrains are brutally simple and bluntly memorable, coupled with the sometimes awfully generic lyrics ('The constitution is so corrupt/I hate humanity'), and all of them linger in your memory, although at times not for good reasons (as in 'Welcome To Hell' or 'The Devil's Sperm', where Nils Patrik theatrically wanders as if unsure of which note he'll sing next). Elsewhere, there isn't much to go wrong with, like the muscular 'Built To Destroy', or the compact and effective (but really which track isn't? Talk about Scandinavian efficiency) 'Evilized'. As an end result, not knowing beforehand that the stupidly catchy 'CC Cowboys' was a cover of an obscure 80s song, I'd still never have guessed it, given how seamlessly it blends with the rest of the tracklist, Swedish language notwithstanding.

Closing, let's not understate the news that one can still listen to thrash albums coming out in 2024 and find something new and rarely (if ever) heard of. By this logic already, Axeorcism is really a warm recommendation. But if they manage to write a second album with 10 different versions of 'Sea of Pain', they'll likely satisfy this grown-up baby right here more.

Rating: 7.9 out of 10