Hellias - 2007 - Night of Damnation 12''

This great reissue done by the superb Nuclear War Now! Productions includes the 1988 Noc Potepienia EP on side A, and an excellent live recording from 1989 on side B.

In the 80s, Poland's metal scene was full of unique and interesting bands with their own sounds, and Hellias were no exception. They were a rather goofy looking bunch, but they played some of the most sinister thrash metal you'll ever hear.

One of the things I love about these two recordings is the guitar tones that both guitarists attain. It's not very often that you hear great fuzz tones in thrash metal. Usually bands go for a crunchy and a straight forward distorted sound, which works fine, but it's just refreshing to hear a great fuzz tone. But what difference would a great guitar tone make without killer riffing to accompany it? Well that is not the case here whatsoever. The riffing here is very creative and unique and never repeats itself. I love it when bands favor the higher notes with this kind of metal, and that is exactly what Hellias do. The drumming is more straight forward, but it gets the job done and it's not as if this band's music really requires anything too technical or flashy. And now on to the vocals. The vocals are really what gives this band the evil atmosphere that is evoked while listening to this. They sound like an early proto-black metal but with more snarl. They are extremely well done.

This is just one of the many great NWN! Prod. reissues and I highly recommend it to all fans of thrash metal, and just fans of metal in general. There is nothing here to not like. So here is my own vinyl rip of the LP. Enjoy.

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