It’s hard not to love an album that adorns its cover with a classic image from Dante’s Inferno and even bears the same name. It’s like interweaving church bells into a Doom song, every metalhead instinctively nods to it. So SPEEDKILLER’s latest debut full-length, “Inferno,” started off on the right cloven hoof. SPEEDKILLER is a Black/Thrash Metal trio hailing from Brazil and Portugal. They dropped “Inferno” on March 8, 2024 via Portugal based Helldprod Records.

“Inferno” paces out at 37:14 with nine tracks. They stay in the Black/Thrash lane, cranking out furious riffs but bending in Black Metal melody. Vocals are guttural and unclean, but still fairly discernable. The bass is right up there but could be more pronounced. Altogether, the production values are fairly clean with little oversaturation. While they definitely don’t get hung up in the lo-fi analog trap, they still manage to tap into the Old School vibe.

I should note that the band has had a significant lineup change, refining down to a trio from a foursome since their previous release (EP, “Midnight Vampire”), pretty much switching out the entire lineup except for drummer, Hellkrätus. Regardless,  “Inferno” is very tight.

Best things about the album. First, Yan Nielsen on lead. I mean, holy fuck, there had to be some kind of deal with the devil at the crossroads for this one. Witness “Blood Worship” and “Invoke the Lord” as examples. The classic opening to “The Birth of Immortal Evil” is also perfect evidence. Second, there’s some really good composition going on. Signature to a lot of Thrash, most of the tracks have multiple movements which keeps things interesting. Third, when it comes to lyrics, SPEEDKILLER leans into dark and evil Black Metal themes over the social-political didactics a lot of Thrash bands get caught up in. When Yan invokes his lines, you aren’t going to suffer a lecture on some agenda . . . I mean, except for the rising of Lucifer.  

“Invoke the lord

Bring us the goat

Power of the witches unfold

Listen to call of eternal dark”

(from “Invoke the Lord”)

Overall, “Inferno” from SPEEDKILLER is a solid debut. Fusing Black and Thrash, it will appeal to a wide range of extreme metalists. If you weren’t there for their 2020 EP, it’s not too late to join the descent.