Thou Shall Kill

Recently, Tomas Lindberg, vocalist for the legendary At The Gates, said this about death metal: “We eventually came to the conclusion that, to us, death metal is not an angry music style. It's really less about aggression than instilling the songs with a twisted madness powerful enough to unsettle and unnerve the listener.” I read that quote and it seemed to me as though he might have just listened to this release from Thou Shall Kill, because that whole part about twisted madness? It's all over this record.

Thou Shall Kill is most definitely an old school death metal band. I feel pretty safe in saying that you will never see any neon colors on their album covers or merch. Whether you are down with European or Floridian death metal, or any other flavor for that matter, these guys have you covered. Listening to this album is like opening the wrong door and discovering you just opened a portal to Hell, and now you're dealing with a room full of demons. This is death metal done right.

These songs are all gems of the genre. Everything is tight, very well written and performed at a high level. There are moments when the entire band is playing in unison, and doing some very cool stuff, as well as moments when it seems that insanity reigns and the listener has trouble keeping up with everything that is going on. I actually pulled out the headphones so I could really listen to how all of the instruments were working together to create this tumult and din of wickedness. If death metal is your thing you really need to hear this album. It will give you hope that there are still bands like this roaming the earth and playing in the true, old ways.

“Weapons of War” is my favorite track on this album. It is so well done, and then the guitar solo is like a fret-melting call across time and space to summon all that is unholy. I listened to it a few times and it feels like its just not right, but in a very good way. With this song playing, if I looked out my window and saw Cthulu hovering in the sky, I would not be surprised. Scared shitless, but not surprised. “Buried Beneath” is an excellent example of how this band works together. The drum fills are really cool and very unique for this style of music. One would expect blast beats and other speedy playing, but instead we get drum parts that fit absolutely perfectly with the song, and again set this band apart as one who knows what they are doing and forging their own path rather than just copying what has gone before. Just brilliant stuff.

I'm a firm believer in supporting what you love, and I heartily endorse this album. There are certainly bigger name bands playing death metal, but you'd be hard pressed to find a band anywhere that plays with a passion and fierceness that shines through like this even when you are listening to a digital file. This is a band that is fully into what they are doing and its easy to get behind that. This is what true death metal sounds like. Open your mind so that you can hear and embrace all that death metal means.

-ODIN - The Ripple Effect

Thou Shall Kill is a metal music fanatic's band. This is a headbanger’s headbanging band, for those that live and breathe metal music, that are proud of the word metal, that identify as heavy metal lifers. The name Thou Shall Kill could not be more intense and it represents the nature of this Seattle death metal formation. Led by the larger than life stage presence of the barbarian warrior himself, under the name of Dragonis Khan, Thou Shall Kill is a band with the mission to win your heart and mind. When guitarist growler Dragonis Khan takes the stage, he walks in warrior regalia like someone with a purpose in life. To his left, his partner in brutality is the incorrigible Freak who commands you to form a mosh pit or bang your head or he will scowl at you with the thoughts of revenge. When he gives you the signal, it’s time to thrash, mosh and get moving. He plays the bass, roaming, looking to start the fire in the crowd. To Dragonis Khan’s right, you will find Demonia, the executioner of the strings, who along with the warrior, form a guitar monger’s strategic alliance that lives and dies by the riff. Lastly, the throne is occupied by Animal, a new name given to him right now by this publication, blasting his way through the fog and the thunder.

I have been fortunate to catch the band’s live performance a couple of times so far and I have been wondering how the music would translate in the studio. Can a recording capture the energy and spirit of the band? Let's take a look at the contents and see where things stand with Thou Shall Kill in 2017.

1.Epitaph 1:31

2.Judas Behold: The Scourge of the Nazarene 4:40

After the introduction of deathly peaceful clean guitars, the veil to the madness and chaos is lifted with a huge roaring blasting out of the gates and the band sounds like they broke the chains that were holding them back. They are not holding back anything anymore and are giving it their all to make a proper, traditional death metal track that establishes unwavering allegiance to the sounds of classic extreme metal, turning all the dials to eleven.

3.Kingdom Of Shadows 4:04

This song is unmistakable. You won't forget it, either. I have heard it live and I knew which one it was immediately on the recording. It has a very particular blasting beginning of stop/start, then the speed kicks into high gear after the song takes off. On this track shredding soloing takes over toward the end of the song. Sharp and fast, it’s a very cool part of the song.

4.Weapons of War 4:53

A scorcher blasting from beginning to end, basically. The inspiration and spirit of classic death metal is alive in the form of Thou Shall Kill. The scream at the beginning of the song reminded me of a certain sound in particular, one that is used to announce that it's time to bang your head with what's to come. Sure enough, in an instant the guitars are shredding and on the march. The drums are pummeling as fast as possible. The linear, direct structure of the song is definitely pleasing to the ear, especially for when what you really want to do is bang your head or rock out. This song will make you drive fast and go faster than the speed limit. You can't drive 55 to this one.

5.Buried Beneath 5:19

Don't get the wrong impression about Thou Shall Kill. This is not a one-trick pony at all. The previous song is a celebration of everything blasting, speed, brutality and frenzy. Nonetheless, this track here is a completely different dimension: super heavy, marching at a slow pace through some chugging, with tremolo parts, with slow drumming, while the fast double bass kicks provide a constant jumpstart. In the last minute a melodic guitar solos warns that the end is at hand and it's not until the last 37 seconds that the band decides to go full speed down the stretch as a way to bring it home.

6.Doomsday Creation 6:33

Is it better to fade into the end or to go out with a bang? On this occasion, the decision has been made and the intentions are unequivocal. The marching orders are clear. Go big or go home. Rather, go out the door kicking and screaming like maniac. There's quite a bit going on here. There's blasting speed, but not exclusively; there are bits and echoes of extreme metal's past; some quick shredding. The song begins like a closer with some chords that say "let's go, let's go" and soon this creature is barreling down the road, with the band throwing down as hard as they possibly can.

In conclusion, Thou Shall Kill is a band that has done their homework. They took this recording seriously. This does not sound like a demo or a rehearsal. It's meant to be a professional recording for those that take their extreme metal seriously. Even though the shredding soloing and the more melodic soloing have a bit of a reduced or shortened role, it is a good element of the band's identity. Finally, Thou Shall Kill is traditional extreme metal, mostly in the realm of classic-style death metal, in which tight execution and skill are paramount, and the fundamental focus—despite all the chaos, brutality, speed and a general love for high-energy intensity and heaviness—remains the songs. The band should be proud of this recording for sure. It is their best yet.

-MMB - Metal Bulletin Zine

(Translated from Spanish)

THOU SHALL KILL “From the North” – Independiente – Demo 2011

Pure death metal in old school plan like the one that was made in the Florida area in the early 90s, although in this case coming from Seattle, is the one that these Americans settle for in this first demo. So old old school can sound that they will remember the old productions of bands like Master or Malevolent Creation although to a lesser extent something also smells of people like Suffocation and Vader. The rotten voices of Pendragon fit perfectly with the dark aura that the Dragonis Khan melodies are creating as heard in the furious start of "Human Jigsaw" or in that fierce "Thou Shall Kill" that contains precisely one of the most riffs devastating of this demo. They certainly have the potential to achieve important things within the style, also remembering at times the intensity of the first Death in a subject as brutal and diverse as "Summoning the Absu". More details and info about these guys inhttp://www.facebook.com/thoushallkill and at http://www.myspace.com/thoushallkill666 .

NOTE: 7.5 / 10 - Miguel Ramírez