Sometimes you get a real surprise. This is one of them. I have been a reviewer for Headbangers Zine & Gigs, but due to time restraints (I just don't have enough hours in the day) I had to give that one up and decided to keep Metal Temple as my time consumer. Therefore I know of Headbangers & Big Bad Wolf Records. A lot of the time they are the ones that find very old Metal gems that have been hidden away from metalkind for one reason or other. On other occasions they release new stuff. This is one of the latter.

BLADECRUSHER is a rather fresh Dutch quintet that has not been around for a very long time. So you could say that they have just been let out of their diapers. That makes the way they approach their music making even more impressive. You see, BLADECRUSHER combines Thrash and Heavy Metal with Hardcore Punk, and they already sound as if they actually know what they are doing. This feeling is enhanced when you keep on listening to and judging their debut album "Tempest". Just over twenty-seven minutes of bloody brilliant intensity and aggression that has surprised and amazed me. Plus it put a massive smile on my face, as I never expected this. Yes, you will hear the influences of bands like SLAYER and EXODUS, but the hardcore and punk influences and undertones and the impressive and hefty riffs give the whole experience just that little bit extra. As does the outstanding production, as the sound is exactly what this "Tempest" album needs. You will thrash, you will pogo, you will bang that head, but most of all, you will enjoy.

As this is a debut album, the music isn't perfect yet. It could do with some refinement, a little more variation, but as "Tempest" doesn't even clock half an hour, that to me is just a minor point. I haven't got a clue where in my country BLADECRUSHER are from, and I really couldn't care less, but I sure as hell will want to know where they are going to go from here. I would very much like to see if they can capture the intensity and aggression on the stage as well as they have on record. Because if they are able to come close, they should make us metal people go wild beyond our imagination. And isn't that what being a musician is all about?