Review by Greg on October 2, 2025.

It might have been the partial conceptual resemblance to Toxik's flawed masterwork Think This, but when I first caught sight of the artwork of the here presented 24/7 Hate, second full-length effort by German thrash outfit Surgical Strike, something told me to look past its crude ugliness, as well as tough title that would have concealed a laughable groove metal album nine times out of ten. Well, if anything, I'm glad I followed that something, because this might as well be that evasive tenth case, for once. But let's not get ahead of ourselves.

In a way, the career of these Lower Saxony dudes reminded me of US fellow thrashers Gross Reality, who also arrived on the scene only after the 1990 watershed, broke up shortly thereafter, and are now living a new millennium second chance to the fullest with three LPs in the last decade (*insert mandatory friendly recommendation for 2023's incredible Return to Ruin here*). It's an enviable situation if you think about it, as you don't run the risk of ruining your legacy since, well, you don't have any legacy to hold fast to. The only palpable difference is that Surgical Strike managed to put out at least a couple of since-forgotten demos back then – can't comment about their style, but judging from their bare-bone artworks, as well as thrash in the mid-'90s being more outdated than shoulder pads and platform shoes, they probably weren't any kind of late-era forgotten masterpieces...

So, what area of the neo-thrash scene do Surgical Strike occupy? They do differ from the plethora of run-of-the-mill revival acts in some aspects, although not in the polished, yet powerful production, and certainly not in the vocals of only original member left Jens Albert, which sometimes awfully resemble Steve Souza from Exodus. To get it immediately out of the way, they're by far the less striking (pun not intended, for once) feature of the band's sound, being rather monotonous and not mirroring his mates' wide array of weapons. Because, luckily, the rest of the landscape is definitely more interesting, running the gamut of contemporary thrash metal, from the socio-political and war themes to the above average leadwork, which naturally ends up being 24/7 Hate's main source of melody, in the absence of a more charismatic, standout presence at the mic. Yeah, I seriously couldn't stop thinking about how much the album would have progressed with another screamer enhancing the methodical frontal aggression, or taking care of the commanding midtempos and slow, anthemic refrains... but, well, exercises in futility, someone once said, right?

The bog-standard vocals are also easier to overlook because, when I said the leadwork is above average, I mean grandly above average. I struggle to choose specific examples to point out above others, but you can rest assured that Frank Ruhnke (whose melodeath background might justify most things) and Marcelo Vasquez Rocha have hidden a truly remarkable lead sequence almost everywhere, be it the more elaborate centerpieces 'Discover The Evil' or 'Alienated', complete with arpeggiated intro and somewhat 'Elimination'-esque chorus, or the subsequent loose cannon 'Rose War' that hits you with the same nonexistent subtlety of a Terror Squad-era Artillery track. The title-track and opener has a solo that opens up and closes with the same sweet sequence, in truly satisfying fashion. 'Sorrow Of War II' even goes for a clean, echoed intermezzo that is less 'Master of Puppets' and more 'La Villa Strangiato', naturally with all due proportions. The fact that it's placed within a more solemn number, which arguably doesn't share much with its predecessor (found on the less ambitious and duller debut Part Of A Sick World), is the proverbial icing on the cake for what's probably the album's all-around best episode.

Thus, despite being initially tempted to compare 24/7 Hate to Atrophy's comeback Asylum, which I wasn't really fond of, the even more prominent guitars make it fall in more or less the same league as Terravore's coeval Spiral of Downfall, albeit treading less extreme grounds overall... with one precious exception: last song 'Blinder' follows the aforementioned 'Sorrow Of War II', which would have been a great closer per se, but manages not to mess up the album's flow, offering an auxiliary blackened influence (that reprise of the intro in the bridge is honestly masterful) that also serves as a showcase for Moritz Menke's more unhinged drumming, occasionally pushing itself to blast-beats. Another home run to impeccably round off the whole affair.

Apart from maybe 'Fear Monger' or 'Circle Jerk' (the only misstep of an all-around excellent second half), which aren't the kind of songs you would recommend to everyone in your social circle, Surgical Strike's 24/7 Hate grew on me way more than expected, as the first, passing impression I got was that of an average album with mediocre vocals and a remarkable dedication to the leads, when I couldn't have been more wrong, as it actually has several well-written and memorable songs. Who knows for certain if Albert's old mates are watching the band name float around again and go strong in these modern times, but judging from this album, I, for one, would be proud of it.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10