OCCULT BURIAL is a Black/Thrash Metal trio out of Ottawa, Canada home to the wendigo, waheelas, and other sundry evil beasts that will kill you where you stand . . . much like this band. They formed 2012 and then released their debut full-length album, "Hideous Obscure," four years later in 2016. Just like clockwork, if clocks moved in increments of four years, they unleash their second full-length album on October 30, 2020, the curiously named "Burning Eerie Lore."

The album kicks off with a short intro piece, "Warning To Lust," featuring a hypnotic riff played to the cadence of something burning and some marching bass and tin-can drumming. There's also this periodic keyboard note that strikes off like a flat doorbell. Believe it or not it all works together to establish a weirdly haunting atmosphere. It also chews up two and half minutes and the aforementioned atmosphere doesn't quite match the vibe of what's to follow, but what the hell, I still liked it.

The next eight tracks constitute a relentless rampage of boots, elbows, and very sharp steel. Best tracks are "Highway Through Borderland" which is destined for heavy rotation across many an unsuspecting sound systems; "Skeletal Laughter (Ode To Graves)" a killer track picked up from their 2018 EP; and "The Bleeding Spectre" which sounds like about six songs that you love but can't remember. It's like the soundtrack of some metal collective consciousness. As a side note, "Temple Of Mutants (Black Adoration pt. II)" also comes from their 2018 EP.

Joël T's vocals are raspy but powerful and remind me of early Paul Di'Anno with more grit and stamina. He's also a solid bass player, and I never saw Paul pick up a bass, so there's that. Dan McLoud's guitar work is blistering. Not sure how they'll replicate the overdubbing on stage, but that's clearly not an issue in today's streaming-only world. Maybe a second guitarist is in order. Dan Lee is viscous on the kit. No complaints here. Just an observation: With the Dans making up two-thirds of this power trio, maybe Joël should consider switching to Dan T. Just saying.

Is OCCULT BURIAL Black Metal or Thrash? Musically, "Burning Eerie Lore" offers up a shed load of fast riffs, a discernable bassline, and no evidence of tremolo. It's also several bars above the lo-fi maelstrom. So maybe Thrash. Lyrically, however, it's lots of satanic imagery and a conspicuous absence of geopolitical and socio-economic ranting. So maybe Black Metal. End analysis takes us back to a mesh of Black and Thrash, but no one really cares. Metal is metal and "Burning Eerie Lore" is as metal as it gets.