Review by Fernando on December 11, 2022.

When it comes to black/thrash, Sweden is usually a safe bet to find some quality bands. Being the country where Bathory spawned from certainly helps, and while most would point to Nifelheim, there are some truly wicked young and hungry bands, as is the case with Sulfuric and their debut record Into The Darkness.

The band market themselves as “oldschool” and “unpolished” metal, and they certainly embody and live up to those descriptors. This is pure, uncut, uncompromising and unfiltered thrash metal, with blackened vocals and imagery, and while there can be a legit complaint about whether or not the band’s music is at best a pastiche, and a worst a recreation of Bathory riffs and Sodom speed, and there is no denying about all the tricks and elements the band do in fact do here that are blatant and unsubtle. The band actually managed to use all those tried and true tropes and tricks without just being fetishists of old school thrash metal. A key aspect where the band truly separate themselves from most blackened thrash bands, is their overt punk tendencies. When it comes to blackened thrash, most bands just take black metal and focus more on riffs, speed and being more technical with their instrumentation, other bands just play standard thrash and add blackened vocals, Sulfuric on the other hand, play up the punk melodies and even grooves and use black metal as a rounding seasoning, which also gives the music an obscure atmosphere, and without discarding the sense of energy.
Furthermore, the band also display an excellent understanding of this style of metal, and technical prowess. Band members, individually and as a whole unit are very proficient musicians, they can be as savage and aggressive as the best, but they also know how to dial back the intensity when needed, as well as displaying more than just riffs and frenzied solos, and this is where Sulfuric are truly exemplary black/thrash, they play raw and straightforward thrash, with no frills or deviations, yet they add technical proficiency, and adherence to the DIY metal ethos of the 80’s as a contrast to the savagery.

Finally, the band also added that balance of old school devotion and technical excellence on the production, since they play unapologetic thrash in pure 80’s fashion, the band also included a very professional and even clean production sound, however I want to stress that when I say “clean” sound, I mean 80’s thrash “clean” sound, as all the instruments are audible and don’t overpower each other, but also, the sound is very natural and vintage. The production is akin to Slayer’s "Reign In Blood", its sufficiently polished to be considered professional, but its not devoid of grit, and the final product sounds as heavy and intense as it should.

Overall Sulfuric truly delivered on their promise of pure old school and unpolished metal, with no filler whatsoever, just a ripping good time. While this type of music tends to be a bit monotonous, Sulfuric keeps things varied enough within their lane, and are consistently enjoyable for me to highly recommend this one, so crack up some beers and get ready to mosh.

Best tracks: 'Hemophiliac', 'Into The Darkness', 'Horseback Battle Warrior', 'R.O.D (Rebels of Darkness)'

Rating: 8 out of 10

Review by Adam M on December 13, 2016.

Meshiaak performs a very modern form of thrash. There are certainly other styles blended into their overall mix like hardcore. This is because of the very upfront sound that has a heavy bass presence. The sound is similar to the other hardcore influenced band that I can think of Sylosis as much as it is older Metallica.

This full bodied sound certainly has an impact, however, because there haven’t been many great thrash releases this year. When inspecting it next to the new Anthrax, one can see less of a classical orientation and more of the modern position. The production is crisp and helps put the massive guitar riffs at the forefront. Musicianship is just as rigidly accomplished with tight guitars taking the place above solid drumming. One can worship the musicianship on the track It Burns at Both Ends where there is some interesting guitar interplay. This is entirely the type of thrash release that needs to be played to fill in the gap for this type of release this year. Although Revocation did release an album, the more modern thrash definitely goes along with that classic sound performed by Anthrax and Death Angel. There is simply that sheen that has the edge of these recent bands and elevates the album up into the higher registers of the albums of the year. The thing that prevents this from being an altogether beast of an album is perhaps this hardcore aspect the band has. It makes them sound sort of simple when compared to the Anthrax, for example.

However, the amount of variation and hugeness of the riffs does take this release and place it with that one as the two best from the genre this year. It is nice to have one release of each type of thrash at the top of the heap this year. It should be noted that those that enjoy grunge will find something to like with Alliance of Thieves as well. As a debut release this is very strong stuff.

Rating: 8 out of 10