SPEEDKILLER is a black / thrash metal based out of Três Corações, Minas Gerais, Brazil and who have been around since 2018. This is their latest EP entitled "Midnight Vampre" which was released through Hellprod Records on December 11th, 2020.

There has been a growing trend over the last few years for black metal-tinged thrash metal with some hard rock influences (namely the almighty MOTORHEAD) and having reviewed one of the more prominent bands in the genre, MIDNIGHT, I decided to give this project a chance.

One thing extremely evident when hearing "Nightspell" is how these guys have summoned the spirit and musical influences of VENOM, while the vocals are slightly more on the death metal tones than the latter, there is a lot of grit and distortion to this number, making it quite a throwback to the early 1980s, You get some almost inaudible solo action in the background, (there is one part however that is really loud and shows off the shredding abilities of the band's guitarist),  but the rest of the song is straightforward and edgy in its fastpicking and aggression.

If you enjoy you metal full speed ahead with no boundaries, then I am sure you will appreciate the title track "Midnight Vampire" that follows the structure of the other songs with its high-octane activity and almost sermon-like vocals. There is a sheer evil side to the song that really embodies the old school elements of SODOM and to a certain extent the very early years of SLAYER when satanic imagery was the foundation of the band's imagery. I loved the nostalgic side of those beautiful echoes in the guitar solo on this one.

The last song on the EP entitled "Circles of Blood" is another standout number but mostly because it does not have the same rapid approach in the early moments (which I understand is the trademark of the genre), it leaves some breathing room before going into speed metal mode, Once again, you have that undeniable intensity of 1980s DESTRUCTION mixed with some death metal and some black metal guitar dissonance.

I find it hard to believe there are bands releasing music in 2020 that just have that natural ability to grasp and channel the great thrash and speed metal that was born in the early 1980s, but there are indeed such bands, and without a doubt, these guys really master that art. Is the production amazing? I would not say so, but at the same time, if you want to really have the essence of the genre, you don't need everything sounding stellar, it only needs to be audible. In these trying times, if you want to back a solid 35 years, when there were no sub-categories, there was just metal, this is a great album to listen t.