Damn... I didn’t see this one coming! MAZE OF TORMENT of Sweden is back with their sixth album… and it’s a freakin’, fuckin’ great album. “Hidden Cruelty” is the title of this brand new hammer album and SLAYER is written all over the 10 tracks there are to be found.
Well… The first time I threw it in my CD-player I really thought I was listening to a SLAYER
album… so no originality here, I’m afraid. But I don’t freakin’, fuckin’ care! I like SLAYER and I like bands that sound like SLAYER. Damn... even the guitar solos is very close to SLAYER’s.
The opener “The Breach the Wall” is an incomparable fuckin’ great track with plenty of killer riffs and an irresistible urge to bang your head until your ears starts to bleed. This track IS very close to SLAYER and some might call it plagiarism but what the hell… it’s a fuckin’ great track anyway. Track 2 “This Vision” is awesome too… once again very, very… VERY close to the sound of… well, SLAYER, but an outstanding track. This track just snaps your spine to put it simple.
Track after track are kicking the living shit out of you… and believe me you will bang your fucking head until you will lose consciousness. God damn it… it’s very, very hard for me to name any standout tracks… because every single one of the 10 songs are fuckin’, freakin’, fantastic. Riff after riff are smashing my skull in and I still can’t believe that this album is NOT written by… SLAYER. - Damn… MAZE OF TORMENT really knows how to kick my sorry little white ass!
I have been listening to “Hidden Cruelty” almost non-stop since I received this promo-CD and I already consider this album to be almost as good as: SLAYER’s “Show no Mercy” and “Reign in Blood”. MEGADETH’s “Peace Sells… But Who’s buying?. KREATOR’s “Pleasure to Kill” and “Terrible Certainty”.
“Hidden Cruelty” was recorded in the well-known Berno Studios (The Haunted, Defleshed, The Crown, and Amon Amarth) and the production is raw and powerful.
This is the Thrash Metal album to beat this year, in my humble opinion. And I really don’t give a shit about this album being very, very, very close to the sound and style of SLAYER... because this album RULES!
Check it out… now!
