Aggression, destruction and even more aggression!

The usual trademarks of the good ol’ death/thrash we’ve come to love to this day. Maze of Torment come in kicking with a truly great new effort; Hammers of Mayhem. The Swedes have jumped in the studio once again to record their 5th studio-album. Improvements are shown, not only in the musicianship, but also production wise.

Hammers of Mayhem leaves the listener off with eargasms thinking back of classic LPs such as Kreator’s ‘Endless Pain’ and ‘Pleasure to Kill’, and basically being satisfied that this scene is still alive. Very much alive! Sure, Maze of Torment brings nothing new or original to the table, but with music like this, that just doesn’t matter at all. Like I’ve said earlier; the band come in kicking, opening track ‘Beyond the Infernal Gates’ comes in like a big fat punch in your face, the old school riffs are the dominant elements, as with most death/thrash really.

The band combines an interesting mixture of black/death with old school thrashing. Most of the tracks are perhaps a bit repetitive to most listeners, so if you’re looking for originality, this disc isn’t your cup of tea.

The title-track shows some Slayer inspired riffing, the band tries to be diverse on the terms of thrash and they succeed. Well no, I’m not just praising the riffs, even though it may seem that way. They are just very dominant. The drums are top-notched produced, the double-bass is definitely shown the way it should, not too loud, and definitely not too soft. The well-tuned toms create a way for those blast-beating fills to come out just the way they should. Bass is audible, and not too loud, backing up the riffs and drums just perfectly. Vocalist Sahlström screams his guts out, leaving some Nödtveidt (Dissection)-elements stuck in the ears of the listener.

One fact which may seem interesting, but really isn’t, is the irrelevant cover of Venom’s ‘Evil In League With Satan’. It just doesn’t fit on the album at all, if they were to cover Venom, they should’ve at least gone for the faster stuff. It just doesn’t do it for me.

Nonetheless, Maze of Torment provided the scene with some good old black/death/thrash again with their 5th effort. Put it on, bang some heads, and don’t forget to fucking thrash it up!

[This review was first published on the now defunct scandinavianmetal.info webzine]