Bloodletter - "Funeral Hymns" Album Review

It has been a very long time since a thrash album has surprised me with its speed, aggression and melodic heart. Not since the likes of Vektor have I found myself enamored by some of the finest speed metal coming out of the United States. What we have with Bloodletter’s newest album is one of the greatest metal albums I have heard in years. Clocking in at a punchy half an hour, across eleven songs, Funeral Hymns certainly wastes no time in delivering the all-out onslaught from the offset. "Absolution Denied" and "The Grim" are remarkable opening tracks that utilize the genre expectations excellently whilst also building upon them with some new ideas. I am particularly fond of the opening riff of the latter track, it recalls the likes of Diamond Head, Venom and Midnight, and it rules. Many of the riffs on offer and the stellar vocals come courtesy of Peter Carparelli, and his distinctive thrash metal bark is every bit as powerful as it is rhythmic, doubly goes for his guitar playing. Though, he is not alone when it comes to the six-string assault, Pat Armamentos delivers some awesome guitar parts too that cannot be denied. The whole album has this bounce and groove to it that is impossible to shake off. A few seconds into "I Am The End" or the crushingly savage "Blood, Bone & Ash" and I felt myself compelled to bang my head as hard as I could along with the rock/blast beats and shredding guitars. The former closing out the album and doing an incredible job of summarizing the album’s finest qualities, bookending with "Absolution Denied", concretely illuminating just what makes this album so special. It’s fast, it’s no nonsense and it takes no prisoners. Production wise, this is everything I could have wanted from a modern-day thrash record. When it comes to some of the greats of the genre, (Slayer, Anthrax, Megadeth etc.) I found that in their later efforts, the guitars and vocals can be mixed improperly taking away from that old-school punchiness of that early-to-mid 1980s sound. This is not the case with Bloodletter, who boost a thick and yet razor-sharp guitar tone with some dynamic and pronounced percussion. The song writing is every bit as good as the guitar riffs. There is no mindless thrashing here. Every track and its arrangements feel deliberately crafted with rich melodies and thoughtfully placed use of choruses and drum fills. A great example of this is on the song "Death Masks", where vicious tremolo guitars and tapping is king, and it is not only catchy but infectiously moreish. To conclude, Bloodletter have outdone themselves and proven that they can stand with any of the American thrash greats on their second full length album. It is a record that I have heard in full several times now, and even as I write this, I’m spinning songs such as "Mark of Justice" and "Funeral Bell", this is an outstanding slice of straightforward speed metal that should not go ignored.