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LUCILLE
Dawn Of Destruction

Dying Victims Productions (2025)
Rating: 7/10

Now here’s a band that has taken its time releasing a full-length debut. Eight years into their career and with just a sole EP (Too Proud To Beg For Mercy, 2021) under their leather belts, this Polish thrash combo unleashes Dawn Of Destruction.

The musical premise here is a style carved from the roots of old Slayer and Kreator. Sharp, snappy rusty metal kitted out in black leather and studs may be the familiar order of the day, but damn, these lads know how to build a song. Opener ‘Brand New World’ is an absolute monster of a track with a variation of melodic riffs carved into its trunk. The bass rattles like a cupboard full of skeletons before a vintage Megadeth-styled groove comes into focus. And the vocals of guitarist Daniel Ramone are not a world away from the dry yaps of Kreator’s Mille Petrozza.

I assume, but could be wrong, that the band is named after the barbed-wire baseball bat used by villain “Negan” in the television series The Walking Dead. If this is the case then the moniker suits the quartet, because their concise tirades do tend to leave severe bruises. ‘Genetic Curse’ has the feel of an early 80s heap of satanic thrash; the riff is rough, the drums are primitive clatters and the shift between nasty speed and slightly less harmful punky riffage is to be admired.

As the album opens itself up one can hear the strong influence of Slayer’s Show No Mercy (1983) and Kreator’s Pleasure To Kill (1986); a lethal concoction of raw snarling aggression and devilish melody. Even through its limited strategies and blasphemous familiarity there’s a sooty charm which enables songs like ‘Nightstalker’ to run their zany course to full effect.

I actually prefer Lucille when they are less hostile, instead concentrating on deeper, slower menace. I love the opening ominous threat of the title tune and its subsequent gallop. ‘On Your Knees’ and ‘Thrash Resurrection’ are straight up caustic riots, ‘Machine Of Death’ much less so with its slower, rhythmic aggression.

As an old thrasher I found much to savour here, but this style of retro thrash most certainly has a short life span. Enjoy Lucille’s debut while it still seems fresh, but don’t be afraid to revisit the original masters of the genre to put this sort of throwback thrash into perspective.

Neil Arnold

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