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EXORCIST
The First Exorcism EP

Self-released (2026)
Rating: 6/10

There is no messing around here as Bavarian thrashers Exorcist bring their completely unoriginal moniker to the masses. At just over 13 minutes this is one of those “blink and you’ll miss it” creations fuelled, I presume, by alcohol and 80s thrash.

Steeped very much in the folklore of bands like Sodom and Destruction, the four songs here are raw, no frills rants that would have sounded so convincing back in 1984. For now though it’s the standard primitive rust ‘n’ bolts rattling, built upon breakneck speed and whipping vocal chops.

There are hints of vintage Kreator and old Bathory as the hectic namesake track ‘Exorcist’ melts into the equally zany ‘Witchunter’, the German band pretty unforgiving in their metallic fury. The vocals of bassist Tormentor speak for themselves, just throaty yaps and rasps, and his cohorts, namely Gustl (guitar), Butcher (guitar) and Executioner (drums), seem content to play along by battling their chain mail, tapping on coffin lids and chattering their iron teeth.

Amidst the bracken and the brackish, there are zips of melody. ‘Destroyer Of Dreams’ spits out battery acid as abrasive, barbed wire flashes act as cold steel riffs behind wails of graveyard mist. The stench of discarded beer cans accompany my intrepid journey through the excellent closer ‘Necrolust’. That chugging riff is a perverse joy to behold, excavating the grey depths of 1986 and seething from its drunken gut.

All good fun, The First Exorcism is that EP I wanted to record when I was a 14 year old thrasher in 1988. The big question, though, is do these guys have enough in the can to hold my attention for a full-length album?

Neil Arnold

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