Merciless Terror – Vile Extinction (Devil’s Clause Records)

Wednesday, 18th September 2013
Rating: 8/10

Listening to Vile Extinction, DR starts to think about how unproductive Bolt Thrower is, and how on the line Hail of Bullets are, and it’s like, “Who is after these guys?” Maybe Panzerchrist, but they use this thing called “melody,” so they may not be tough enough for the war metal crowd. Kill Division is too fresh and unproven, and let’s not get into the denizens of third-rate death metal bands who don’t stand a chance, so, maybe the band is the U.K.’s Merciless Terror, who rumble on in a rather deadly fashion via their Vile Extinction debut.

Since their 2009 formation, this power trio has had an EP mastered by James Murphy (Death, Obituary, Testament), and opened for all sorts of high-flyers like the above-mentioned Bolt Thrower, as well as Benediction, Malevolent Creation, and Cerebral Bore, so it looks like they’ve cut their teeth properly alongside the right style of bigger bands. Vile Extinction might adorn the “no-frills” tag, yet there’s a bristling pace to their riffs, a lot of which are precise and brutal to the max (“Doctrine of Malevolence,” “Baptized in Blood”), while having quick and well-timed transitions from insidious thrash to bulldozing death metal, like on album highlight “Process of Eradication.”

Seriously heavier than a heavy thing, Vile Extinction is an excellent first foray into the extreme metal world for Merciless Terror. This thing will roll over you like a tank. Definitely.

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