THREE DEAD FINGERS are a rare occurrence indeed; a hard-thrashing collection of Finnish teenagers-the noteworthy part being their age; we know from bands like Kalmah and Ensiferum that some of the best metal comes from Finland. On their debut album Breed of the Devil, these young metalheads show their inclinations, while incorporating melodeath ideas at times, lie in a harder direction. From album opener "Until the Morning Comes", they show they have a good understanding of how the 80s thrash greats would often open albums, with a-sweet-sounding arpeggiated-guitar and sweeping melodic intro. It's a nice prelude to the thrashy bite of "Black Rainbows", which I assume is why it's been done so many times. On that song-although not always, sometimes opting for gruffer tones-vocalist Oliver Bergman adopts a fairly clean vocal style and you can tell he has an accent, although not in a bad way. It is also a good example of how melodic ideas are interspersed with heavier riffing throughout, as further tracks such as 'Into the Bloodbath' elucidate.

 The riffing throughout this album is often a stomping, driving affair, reminiscent more of mid-paced thrash/melodeath than anything on the speedier side of the spectrum. While some bands that have multiple stylistic influences write separate songs in each style, Three Dead Fingers shifts between thrashy and melodic, with a dash of more modern metal occasionally, more or less consistently across the album. The title track is a good example of them letting a simple melodic idea you might find on an Arch Enemy album give way to pummeling guitar work. That tendency continues throughout, as the track ebbs and flows nicely between restraint and assault. Overall, I think though there are thrash elements, the guitar work tends more towards the melodeath side of things, especially in the vein of Swedes like Arch Enemy or the Greek Nightrage.

"Pighead" breaks this rule, as a no-nonsense thrasher from the beginning, complete with primal riffs and shouted vocals. Another outlier here is "Eveline", boasting some pull-off tricks that make it sound like it should either be on an Iron Maiden or a Kalmah album, depending on how aggressive Steve Harris was feeling that day. A trap that modern thrash bands sometimes fall into is the aimless lead, which thankfully I don't see occurring here. Soloing is a feature on most of these songs, but it always feels thought-out and contributes to the moment rather than jarring the listener out of it. The drumming follows a few conventional, but not necessarily bad, thrash and melodeath patterns for the most part. Lots of gallops to be found here. The drums are definitely well-done on this album and complement what the guitars are doing. Sometimes the lyrics-when they can be understood-are not amazing ("Breed of the Devil" has kind of a cheesy chorus), but it is thrash, and it is made by teenagers. I'm willing to bank on them growing more sophisticated lyrically as they continue writing and living. Bottom line is I'm sure you've heard what these guys are doing before, and probably better-done (I personally think the guitars are a bit fuzzy-sounding), but it's solid work, especially for a debut and especially for one made by people so young.