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INTERCEPTOR
Metal Death

Motorpunk (2025)
Rating: 7/10

I really hope the album cover is for comedic effect, especially when Interceptor’s brand of metal is decent. The photo does the Charleston, South Carolina-based band no favours, so if you can, look beyond the flesh, leather and poses for what is essentially another dose of vicious speed metal.

Hot on the heels of last year’s full-length debut, Tales Of Mayhem, Interceptor once again explores the realms of 80s rusty thrash with this latest effort. Without Venom stuff like this wouldn’t be puked up so regularly and for those who despise such throwback tumult, look away now.

Metal Death comprises of 12 tracks – well, 11 without the outro (‘To Southland’) – and it’s safe to say there’s nothing here to stretch your imagination, but then again that’s not its intention. The trio of Blake “Bulldözer” Arendall (vocals, guitar and bass), Johnny “Reaper” Faiella (guitar) and Elijah “Tyrant” Hicks (drums) march hastily back and forth between old school Teutonic rawness and the likes of the aforementioned Venom alongside Bathory and Bulldozer.

The title track begins with an interesting nod towards the duelling banjo scene in the 1972 movie Deliverance before merging into speed metal hell. The structure reminds me of Voivod’s namesake song ‘Voivod’ with those punky guitars and hissing drums, while the vocals are a rampant combination of Voivod’s Snake and Venom’s Cronos.

There’s no real deviation from the theme throughout the album, but once you’ve consumed a few beers the fun increases. ‘Nachtkrieg’ is basically Motörhead on satanic steroids where the vocals drift into lower end grim growls, while the punk filth continues in the gnarly axe work. Compared to a majority of the tracks, this is very much Interceptor at their most musically tame with that mid-paced grime.

More Venom cloning occurs on ‘Beheaded’, although the serrated riff is excellent, but when one considers the amount of stinking speed on offer it’s ‘The Sword Of Fire’ which suggests the band can surprise if necessary. In this case the track comes across like a doomy studio jam which trudges with a sullen grit, never really going anywhere but showcasing a truly primitive air. ‘Axe Warrior’ also sounds like a rehearsal, in particular the loose drums, but again the pace drops slightly to result in a more infectious rust-bucket of a composition.

Of course, more archetypal speed anthems are littered throughout, like ‘Whisky Night’ and ‘Black Ritual’, but then you hear a track like the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal inspired ‘Confederate Cannibals’ or the blackened doom of ‘Cemetery Winds’ and you start to realise that there’s more to these guys than the eyes meeting a leathery codpiece.

Neil Arnold

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