These guys did wear their influences proudly. Literally. They sported Kreator, Exciter and Exodus shirts and patches, among others. And there's a song titled 'Exhumer'... Speedy, attacking thrash metal, the old way, was the craft of Italian band Plague Angels. They formed in 2010, released their debut demo in the same year, put out two EPs in subsequent years, and this, their debut full-length album in 2013. It also was their swansong on the releases front, as they didn't put out anything else before splitting up in 2016.

While featuring several songs from the first demo and two EPs, this isn't a total compilation of the band's older songs. Surely, they might have renamed or rearranged them for all I know. Here we get nine tracks in 31 minutes. Still, this probably includes more beats than a double doom metal album.

'Reign in Terror' offers somewhat primal take on 1980's thrashing mayhem. It is mostly speedy, hectic and raw, even though there are some groovier beats here and there (e.g. 'Federal Bureau of Investigation (F.B.I.)', going a bit more crossover. Stuffed with sharp riffage as well as sturdy sawing, rusty guitars, and not forgetting those random-sounding fretboard run solos. At times the drummer is playing totally different tempo than other guys are, but usually he's gunning away in time. Hell, that too happened on early Kreator albums, for example, so it is by the thrash metal manual I guess. The bass is quite heavy in the mix booming out loud, as are toms and kick drums, accompanied with snappy snare sound. The performances do contain some explosive energy, but aren't technically adequate.

The band manage to shoot some better riffs among not-so-hot ones, but the main failing about this is the compositional work which can be shoddy. There are times where a song takes an unexpected turn which really doesn't sound very good or suitable, kind of halting the going-ons. It is like that, and not chaotic in nature, which actually could serve and fit in way better with the music style. There is no real melodiousness in this, but it is all about thrashing. However, other thrashers harking back to 1980's, e.g. Swedish Hypnosia or Japanese Ritual Carnage, have done it much, much better. In a more memorable way, because this is not really memorable stuff here.

The vocals remind of angry leperchaun, a bit like early Mille Petrozza, who's choking in his own spit while pronouncing the lyrics about zombies, wars, evil of Revelations and such familiar topics. The voice really isn't annoying, and fits in well. There's some Tom Araya style high-pitched screams and gang vocals backing it all up.

Plague Angels didn't reinvent the cleaver or weren't bothered to clean up all messes of old carnages. They might have jumped into the ring prepared to cause some havoc, but in the end, they didn't have the necessary skills or real power to cause anything but a small wave, if even that. This was still somewhat springtime for the band and then they were gone...

Rating: 5+ (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Lane
05/19/2021 18:48