RSS Feed


PHANTOM
Handed To Execution

Inframetal (2023)
Rating: 8.5/10

After a trio of demo recordings and a split project with Kill Witch, Malicious Intent, Anti-Criss and Praefator, Mexican thrashers Phantom finally issues a full-length album, and one which boasts some of my favourite cover artwork this year. Put simply, this is the sort of lethal assault that used to turn up on mid-80s speed metal compilations whereby said artist would rip your ears off then disappear, never to return.

Guadalajara-based Phantom has that vicious vintage flavour; scathing, zipping bursts of spiteful energy that frantically weave their wiry way through your veins with acidic aplomb. It’s essentially no frills nastiness but with a vigour and vim channelled through frothing riffs and ravenous percussion.

The whole torrential downpour is headed by the usual vocal lashing from J.C. Necrohex, but on the whole it’s such an enjoyable and rabid romp and more so when you’re immediately hooked by the opening chugs on ‘Winds Of Havok’. The riffs sound like classic Metallica and then twist into a Slayer-esque groove. Eventually though a majority of the tracks are driven by raw streaks of hellish hostility, but I’m a sucker for the more traditional openings such as on the title track and ‘Speedhammer’.

In a time machine I find this gem in the racks alongside Hallows Eve, Sentinel Beast et al; a lo-fi yet ripping entity sure to raise the dead.

Neil Arnold

<< Back to Album & EP Reviews



Related Posts via Categories
Share