Battlecreek – ‘Maze Of The Mind’

Thrash Metal

MDD Records

Release Date – April 11th 2024

Review By Smudge

Battlecreek is from Bavaria, Germany and was formed way back in 2004. Since then they have released a demo and two previous full-length albums. They take their inspiration from both the German thrash sound and the Bay area thing too.

The inspiration is blatantly obvious in the opener ‘Implosion Of The Sun’ which is equal parts Death Angel and Tankard as it rattles along at a fair old clip. ‘King Of Rats’ has an Anthrax groove and singer Berne’s shouty vocal upping the aggression before the banging title track gives us shades of Slayer. It punches, spits, slaps and kicks, and then the guitar solo, although brief, peels the paint from the ceiling. ‘Knockout In The First Round’ rains a hail of riffage on yo’ ass as Berne shouts you down and drummer Phil keeps you against the ropes with a proper pounding. We get an acoustic instrumental ‘The Cords Of Death’ with rain pouring in the background before the brutal ‘Thou Shalt Not Kill’ which leads to the groovy ‘Slaves To A Virtual God’ which is led by Nodeng’s rubbery bassline and Chriss’s jagged guitar licks. ‘Granville’s Hammer’ is a rabid thrasher with help from Gama Bomb’s Philly Byrne then we get another acoustic interlude ‘…To The Gallows’ before ‘Pleasures Of The Hangman’ brings a whole heap of chug and fist-pumping. ‘Border Patrol’ eases in with Phil’s double kick before Chriss weaves a spidery riff around Nodeng’s bass – Berne gives us a scream and they’re off on a hardcore banger. The acoustic comes out on the final instrumental cut ‘Goliath’s Revenge’ which develops into some tri-tone devil calling then into a chuggy groove and some wicked axe work from Chriss.

Yes, I’ll be checking these guys out further on the strength of this release. The inspirations are worn proudly on their sleeves, but they do make the sound their own. Like thrash? You’ll like this.

Track List –

1 – Implosion Of The Sun

2 – King Of Rats

3 – Maze Of The Mind

4 – Knockout In The First Round

5 – The Cords Of Death

6 – Thou Shalt Not Kill

7 – Slaves To The Virtual God

8 – Granville’s Hammer

9 – ….To The Gallows

10 – Pleasures Of The Hangman

11 – Border Patrol

12 – Goliath’s Revenge