Review by Greg on March 5, 2025.

I'm a simple man who loves seeing black and blue roughly everywhere: I see an artwork like this, I'm interested. But the second thing that catches my eye is: is it supposed to be a thrash metal album? This is starting to get tricky. What to expect then? Hailing from Blackpool, UK, Blacklist is another new (if slightly unoriginal) name in the scene, and this With Murderous Intent is their sophomore album, released in the summer of 2024.

Indeed, the experience is peculiar. When you've got your revival thrash albums that are so retro they basically become imitations of the old school (more or less successful, not synonymous with 'ugly' by default, but results may vary), this With Murderous Intent lies at the opposite end of the spectrum, arguably featuring as much modernity as you can find in the genre – not necessarily the absolute best the modern school has to offer, but it surely and interestingly shows how many influences a style generally thought to be stale and outdated has absorbed in this day and age. 'Modern' is a word I feel I'm gonna repeat a thousand times in this review, like also modern are the blast-beats spurts in 'Blood Baptism', or the somewhat Within the Ruins-esque tapping melodies springing every now and then in 'Cannibal', or the symphonic undercurrents earning a couple of Cradle of Filth comparisons... with some help from the frequent blackened shrieks, a new addition to the previous, average gritty vocals, a tag team that reminded me of US dissonant crossover weirdos Expander ('Kill The Coroner' almost sounds taken straight from Neuropunk Boostergang).

And so forth, of course all the way to the ultra-modern (yet again) production, rivaling the likes of Terrifier's masterpiece "Weapons of Thrash Destruction" in terms of compression, that is still, for a change, decidedly massive and, most of all, doesn't neuter the power of the instruments, especially the barbaric drums. It's a plus when you've got a drummer like Matt Longshaw that is able to push things to their logical extreme, like in 'The Dismemberment Blade', giving the fastest moments of Harlott and similar hyperfast outfits a run for their money. It's an intense song, cleverly and strategically placed in the middle with the simple intention to obliterate your fucking skull amidst the more measured episodes.

Indeed, most of With Murderous Intent is spent on different, slower territories, and this is the point you'd expect me to claim it just doesn't thrash enough, give it a 65%, and close the whole thing with a generic ending. But, guess what, it is not this day. For a band that likes to experiment so much, I actually feared that limiting themselves to their original genre's boundaries would have resulted in partial, uninspiring failure. The album opens with 'Cannibal', perhaps the only 'pure' thrasher to be found, and I still liked it – although it may well have something to do with me being a caveman – but the highest points have to be found elsewhere. 'The Shape' in particular is a beast of a track, teasing with another hyper-violent intro before a more measured, impressive refrain and an excellent solo. 'Naturom Demonto' isn't too far removed either, another effective track for its horror movie-themed story, a constant of the whole work. But what's true is that, yeah, sometimes I'd have longed for more. I consider myself a huge proponent of mixing tempos in your album, but I wouldn't call Blacklist masters of the craft, I mean. Several songs start off at full speed before abandoning it, some conversely get brutally sped up with no forewarning ('Nostromo', 'Lethal Infection'). The whole thing can feel too scatterbrained at times, for better or worse. Not that its fruition is made easy by the tiresome vocals, either.

All these facets of the sound did logically make me think of their Bulgarian peers in Terravore and their coeval Spiral of Downfall (out a handful of months earlier), and I'm not saying it only because they both feature a song called 'Nostromo', amusingly – even if here it's regrettably one of the most forgettable ones – they're spiritually similar, with several songs probably too long for their own good, that nevertheless often leave you interested in where they're heading, plus a considerable deal of non-archetypical elements. I was inclined towards a higher rating this time, but the final trio is the reason I can't trespass the 80% threshold; as Blacklist kept throwing you all their (numerous) ideas constantly and at all times, the fact that, several spins later, I can't remember anything off them, especially the 8 minutes of the closer and title-track, isn't just a good sign.

Overall, With Murderous Intent is an album with several features that shouldn't appeal to me, but when it really strikes and you feel its aggression, it tastes of sincerity, of passion and vigour, and thrash, even if this far from the standards, is still supposed to be about that. As such, it's hard not to be satisfied, most of the time. I just wish Blacklist played to their strengths more often.

Rating: 7.9 out of 10

Review by Greg on March 5, 2025.

I'm a simple man who loves seeing black and blue roughly everywhere: I see an artwork like this, I'm interested. But the second thing that catches my eye is: is it supposed to be a thrash metal album? This is starting to get tricky. What to expect then? Hailing from Blackpool, UK, Blacklist is another new (if slightly unoriginal) name in the scene, and this With Murderous Intent is their sophomore album, released in the summer of 2024.

Indeed, the experience is peculiar. When you've got your revival thrash albums that are so retro they basically become imitations of the old school (more or less successful, not synonymous with 'ugly' by default, but results may vary), this With Murderous Intent lies at the opposite end of the spectrum, arguably featuring as much modernity as you can find in the genre – not necessarily the absolute best the modern school has to offer, but it surely and interestingly shows how many influences a style generally thought to be stale and outdated has absorbed in this day and age. 'Modern' is a word I feel I'm gonna repeat a thousand times in this review, like also modern are the blast-beats spurts in 'Blood Baptism', or the somewhat Within the Ruins-esque tapping melodies springing every now and then in 'Cannibal', or the symphonic undercurrents earning a couple of Cradle of Filth comparisons... with some help from the frequent blackened shrieks, a new addition to the previous, average gritty vocals, a tag team that reminded me of US dissonant crossover weirdos Expander ('Kill The Coroner' almost sounds taken straight from Neuropunk Boostergang).

And so forth, of course all the way to the ultra-modern (yet again) production, rivaling the likes of Terrifier's masterpiece "Weapons of Thrash Destruction" in terms of compression, that is still, for a change, decidedly massive and, most of all, doesn't neuter the power of the instruments, especially the barbaric drums. It's a plus when you've got a drummer like Matt Longshaw that is able to push things to their logical extreme, like in 'The Dismemberment Blade', giving the fastest moments of Harlott and similar hyperfast outfits a run for their money. It's an intense song, cleverly and strategically placed in the middle with the simple intention to obliterate your fucking skull amidst the more measured episodes.

Indeed, most of With Murderous Intent is spent on different, slower territories, and this is the point you'd expect me to claim it just doesn't thrash enough, give it a 65%, and close the whole thing with a generic ending. But, guess what, it is not this day. For a band that likes to experiment so much, I actually feared that limiting themselves to their original genre's boundaries would have resulted in partial, uninspiring failure. The album opens with 'Cannibal', perhaps the only 'pure' thrasher to be found, and I still liked it – although it may well have something to do with me being a caveman – but the highest points have to be found elsewhere. 'The Shape' in particular is a beast of a track, teasing with another hyper-violent intro before a more measured, impressive refrain and an excellent solo. 'Naturom Demonto' isn't too far removed either, another effective track for its horror movie-themed story, a constant of the whole work. But what's true is that, yeah, sometimes I'd have longed for more. I consider myself a huge proponent of mixing tempos in your album, but I wouldn't call Blacklist masters of the craft, I mean. Several songs start off at full speed before abandoning it, some conversely get brutally sped up with no forewarning ('Nostromo', 'Lethal Infection'). The whole thing can feel too scatterbrained at times, for better or worse. Not that its fruition is made easy by the tiresome vocals, either.

All these facets of the sound did logically make me think of their Bulgarian peers in Terravore and their coeval Spiral of Downfall (out a handful of months earlier), and I'm not saying it only because they both feature a song called 'Nostromo', amusingly – even if here it's regrettably one of the most forgettable ones – they're spiritually similar, with several songs probably too long for their own good, that nevertheless often leave you interested in where they're heading, plus a considerable deal of non-archetypical elements. I was inclined towards a higher rating this time, but the final trio is the reason I can't trespass the 80% threshold; as Blacklist kept throwing you all their (numerous) ideas constantly and at all times, the fact that, several spins later, I can't remember anything off them, especially the 8 minutes of the closer and title-track, isn't just a good sign.

Overall, With Murderous Intent is an album with several features that shouldn't appeal to me, but when it really strikes and you feel its aggression, it tastes of sincerity, of passion and vigour, and thrash, even if this far from the standards, is still supposed to be about that. As such, it's hard not to be satisfied, most of the time. I just wish Blacklist played to their strengths more often.

Rating: 7.9 out of 10

Review by Felix on January 18, 2023.

It is not fair: After their reunion, Mercyful Fate could do whatever they wanted. Nobody dared to put one of their later albums on a par with “Melissa” or “Don’t Break the Oath”. This was not allowed, because it would have meant nothing else than that the heretical critic would not have recognized the greatness of the early works. Too stupid, that guy!

Therefore Mercyful Fate were stuck between a rock and a hard place, especially in terms of the lyrics. Either they picked up new topics (how dare they?) or they returned to the tried and tested subjects (no new ideas!). They had started their comeback period with “Egypt” and now we had to the listen to the (sound of the demon) bell again. Uninvited guests, a kind of collective term for all creatures who had already appeared in their lyrics, returned and so there can be no doubt that “Into the Unknown” wants to be a typical Fate album, although its romantic artwork may suggest something different.

The progressive musical approach of the title track seems to have the intention to build a bridge to “Satan’s Fall”, but you cannot produce a bridge into your own past. I don’t say that the song is going nowhere, but it cannot hold a candle to the eleven-minutes-monument of the debut. On the other hand, there are more straight tracks here to find as well – and some of them are really strong. The lively “The Uninvited Guest” has a very good drive and does not lack an element of spooky malignancy and the consistent “The Ghost of Change” with some pretty strict lines and the great melody at the end also leaves its mark. But unlike former times, the guys are not immune against failures. For example, the chorus of “Holy Water” is completely ridiculous in view of its harmlessness and the vocal intro of “Deadtime” reveals a non-convincing facet of King’s voice. Broad parts of the album’s second half do not fulfil the (high) expectations. A song like the rather one-dimensional “Under the Spell” is okay, really not bad, but also almost banal for a band that has penned tracks like “Nightmare”, “Into the Coven” or “Don’t Break the Oath”.

At the end of the full-length, it’s nice to meet the mad Arab in the eerie closer again and when it comes to the big picture, there can be no serious doubt that “Into the Unknown” houses much more positive than negative aspects. The compositions are meticulously designed and arranged, both the smooth and the abrupt breaks usually work and the level of vehemence leaves nothing to be desired. Additionally, the clean but not sterile production lends the material a proper presentation, even though the occult note of the two early classics is almost totally missing. All this leads to the realization that “Into the Unknown” is a good, but no essential release of the Danish five-piece and we see that even or especially legends can break on their own reputation.

Rating: 7.8 out of 10