Review by Adam M on September 17, 2025.

This was a quality album that really upped the stakes for what this band was capable of.  There are deeper elements than on their Morbid Tales release and they show themselves in songs such as “The Usurper”.  There is a dark element to the album which makes it attractive and one of the better thrash releases in the genre.

The musicianship on the work is rather solid with gurgly guitars and pounding drumming.  The singing of Tom G. Warrior is impressive at this early stage and a highlight of the work.  All in all, the musicianship is very solid and shows the maturity of the outfit quite nicely.  Production is reasonable for the time, but nothing to write home about.

In terms of flaws, there is a feeling that later releases by the likes of the band Triptykon would be more sophisticated and this leads to an unsatisfied aura to the album.  It is still very solid and has enough catchy tracks to be quite addictive and worthwhile.  It is not the greatest album the genre has ever produced, but highly interesting.

All in all this was perhaps the greatest album of 1985 and something to be proud of for the band.  They would go on to produce more avant-garde releases in the future.  Still, this is a monument to good song-writing and a very compelling release.  Fans of the band should definitely give it the right amount of time.

Rating: 7.7/10