Hellfuck - Diabolic Slaughter
With a name like Hellfuck one would expect some blasphemous, Marduk inspired black metal. However, this Polish group is more of an anti-religious thrash anthem, and “Diabolic Slaughter” is hellish enough with plenty of groove to boot. Very Slayer inspired with a lot of the riffs and vocals, many who enjoyed albums such as “Hell Awaits” and “Reign In Blood” will find this quite similar. One has the typical speed thrash tracks like ‘Religious Scum’ and ‘Reigning In Hell’ which feature plenty of groove, layered vocals, and face stomping drumming.
Then there are the death metal tinged pieces like ‘Angel’s Disgrace’ which have a bit more attitude to them, but still that basic Slayer thrash touch. And this helps and hinders Hellfuck because while they have an impressive 80s/ 90s sound, it all sounds like it has been done before so it makes them hard to stand out.
‘Time To Suicide’ mixes things up a bit with some more foreboding riffs, but at the same time it feels like listeners have fast forwarded to “Seasons In The Abyss.” A bit darker and less speed thrash influenced, fans who like the more midpaced to fast Slayer outputs will enjoy this one. ‘Church - The Pigsty Of Nations’ is probably the fastest and most blasphemous track with a good mix of drumming to go along with the riffs. ‘H.M.S.T.O.P.S.’ follows suit with some layered death metal snarls. ‘The Vampiric Oath’ and ‘Despise The Priest’ close the album out with some faster speed thrash moments and impressive vocals hooks, but at the same time sounds like they use a lot of the same riffs that a lot of the other tracks use.
Overall, if one likes Slayer, they will like Hellfuck. “Diabolic Slaughter” goes by pretty quick for 10 tracks but each is the pretty digestible 3:00 to 3:30 minute piece. While most of the album feels like it is on repeat a lot of the time due to the riffs, there are a few standout tracks that are sure to turn heads such as ‘Time To Suicide.’ A little slower than the others it might sound out of place on the album, but it is also nice not to hear another “Hell Awaits” tribute track that so many bands have done before.
Hellfuck certainly have a solid core sound, but to stand out more they need to step things up a bit and go beyond the typical thrash comfort zone in order to garner more fans who might be looking for something more modern versus the usual 80s/ 90s genre output.
2.5 / 5 STARS