BÜTCHER are a band from Antwerp, Belgium's biggest city. The quartet started in 2002 but after releasing two demos the band was put on ice for a couple of years. After seven years of dormancy and some lineup changes the band is back stronger than ever, they've debuted in 2017 with "Bestial Fükkin' Warmachine", their second LP "666 Goats Carry My Chariot" is now being released by the iconic extreme Metal label Osmose Productions. I think you can tell just by looking at the band's self-presentation, the label that they're signed with and the umlaut in the band name that this album will be an 80s Metal throwback affair - and your guess would be absolutely correct. Heavy/Speed Metal revival has been a thing for some time now and a few retro-Speed Metal bands have made a name for themselves. ENFORCER, VULTURE, EVIL INVADERS, KRYPTOS, all these bands have signed contracts with big labels and go on tour with the biggest names in the game. And then there are all those VENOM inspired Black/Speed metal bands that are (or were) on Hell's Headbanger's roster (MIDNIGHT, BAT, SHITFUCKER etc.) of course.

VENOM inspired Black/Speed is also a perfect description of BÜTCHER's sound. Most of the songs on "666 Goats" are pumped up barn burners with blistering proto-Thrash riffs and pounding drumming and a proto-Black evil attitude. This evil 80s Speed Metal vibe reminiscent of VENOM, SABBAT or EXCITER is strongly present, but there is variety and versatility as well. Some lead melodies or the guitar work in general reminds one of NWOBHM in certain moments, "45 RPM" for example has a pre-chorus that is reminiscent of "Painkiller" by JUDAS PRIEST (the vocalist even sings the "faster than a laser bullet"). The majority of the songs on the album are short to medium-length ragers, and all are catchy and memorable, the chorus of "Iron Bitch" in which the singer screams like a banshee about "the power of steel" is very catchy indeed, and the aforementioned "45 RPM" also has a pretty epic chorus. This would all nice and well, but things get really interesting on the more than nine minutes long title song, which starts off like a ballad, after the opening the song goes into a mid-tempo BATHORY kind of groove - it's simple but amazingly catchy. There is a change of mood in the song from melancholic to a sinister vibe in the middle-section, one part of the song even reminds me of first wave Black Metal bands like MASTER'S HAMMER or SIGH. To make things even more interesting there is an instrumental section with breezy NWOBHM leads and soloing. This is Heavy Metal heaven, to me this song a 10/10. "Brazen Serpent" is somewhat longer (over five minutes) and has also a kind of first wave of Black Metal vibe.

This albums rips from front to back, if it had only shorter, aggressive songs I'd still dig it a lot, because the songs have good hooks and the performances are so tight. But BÜTCHER take it to the next level thanks to the variety of the material on the album. 80s retro-Heavy Metal bands are a hit or miss for me, but this is definitely a hit.