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SKYRMISHER
Violent Onslaught

Self-released (2024)
Rating: 7/10

This German five-piece began life in 2013 as Incurable before changing their name in 2018. Since becoming Skyrmisher they have released an EP, Extractor Hood, in 2019 and now this debut full-length album.

The strikingly bad cover art conceals a very contemporary thrash / death outing that does grow on you. I’m rarely a sucker for modern thrash, but this release fuses aggression and melody in equal measures alongside some truly ferocious vocals courtesy of Jan Wiegratz. His style is not a world away from Master’s Paul Speckmann although it’s more flurry, less sneer. Musically, the shifts between pace and measured tones is admirable and for me it’s the melodious, slower stuff that works best.

‘Kill The Caretaker’ is a good example of the mid-tempo chugs that work well in contrast to the vicious vocal serenade. ‘Der Madenmann’ is another standout with its machine gun riffs and equally militant percussion and is where the band comes into its own and showcases its deathlier side. Elsewhere, ‘SL16’ fuses a hostile death-thrash with groove metal, ‘On My Way’ is a short and sharp speed blast, namesake track ‘Skyrmisher’ is glinting with a mocking ferocity, particularly in the crisp drums, and ‘War’ rips like a fearsome mutation of Sodom and Master.

You can hear the Teutonic branding stamped all over this album, and while it’s not old school in design it is still a formidable yet accessible thrash slab of stinging metal.

Neil Arnold

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