One of the few countries who can conjure such massive hordes of quality bands that can compete with Sweden or the States is undeniably Australia, and their vitriolic compendium enlarges every single day it seems, and the latest of the profane abominations to manifest vile material is Hellbringer. Now, this three-piece is not actually the newest act to hail from Australia (though they are quite young), but their debut album ''Dominion Of Darkness'' is good enough to cause hellish barks and immense quakes in the black/thrash kingdom, and after Antichrist's brilliant ''Forbidden World'', this is probably the finest speed/black/thrash hybrid the last three-four years have to offer, meaning that I know have such a burning, profound flame of passion in me that I don't think I'll get jaded about these aesthetics for a long time.
Hellbringer are probably nothing new who has the slightest idea about the primal speed/thrash churnings today, but fuck you, everything has already been copied and repeated countless times and so far you haven't scoffed at any of those plagued trends, so why get agitated by this one? Of course, there are few more reasons why to like ''Dominion Of Darkness'' besides its penchant for deliberately exhaling brilliantly manifested incursions of voluptuous, darkened anger. Remember the Antichrist comparison I made above? Well, I must confide that the resemblance is not entirely accurate, but aesthetically you'll still be able to find a good deal of things similar to ''Forbidden World''. ''Dominion Of Darkness' inclination is towards the thrash oriented side of things, like Abigail or Barbatos with a wild Australian trace of bestiality, but unlike some of its contemporaries, Hellbringer loves embellishing the speedy, hellish incandescence with a sulfuric dose of crazed Teutonic energy, bringing vivid images of of a devil-possessed early Kreator or Sodom to mind every time you hear vicious riffing.
Hellbringer's diabolic competence shows of every flash of the album. Hellbringer are not building for a culminating finale, they're not delivering splendidly shrewd black/thrash, not are they massing their purgatorial conflagrations to erupt into one tumultuous rupture, they're simply effortlessly channeling throughout the territories of metal that they know best and frankly excel at, and they don't flounder for a second, they don't run out of fuel for the fire - they pierce through whatever hindrances stand in their way as if clawing through a stockpile of disabling blots around the ear, delivering contemptuous, vitriolic and visceral bliss. There isn't even much variation throughout the tracks, but somehow, the furnace never lacks for fire, and with the rancorous screams of the vocalist added to the dark aura, ''Dominion Of Darkness' reverb-ridden atmosphere becomes an unholy ear candy for all those who love their ferocious Aussie black/thrash. There is absolutely no possible way a thrasher or fan of bestial blackened metal can reject this. It's not my favorite metal album of the year, however, it is certainly the best of its field I have come across so far.
Highlights:
Dominion Of Darkness
Deceiver's Chamber
Hellbringer
The Rites Of Evil
Rating: 88%
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