Active since 2009, this UK death/thrash act spent their formative years creating demos and EP releases, plugging away in the underground. “Vile Extinction” is their debut album, an 11 track effort that whips by your headspace in a modest 35 minute time frame. The first thing that struck me is the Barney Greenway-like roaring that combines with the plaintive screams from vocalist Dale Linsdell – he will strike fear into the unaware. Expect drumming that often takes the songs into blur motions – “Enraptured” and “Process of Eradication” the best examples – and a band musically that love Napalm Death and Malevolent Creation plus the intensity of Sadus and Dark Angel.
The problem is, all this stacking of riffs and subtle tempo changes doesn’t make up for the fact that Merciless Terror seem to struggle with the finer points of songwriting. Intensity and aggression doesn’t mean a thing if you can’t create that little hook that will make people want to return to music again and again- as such there is no killer drum roll a la “Angel of Death” or memorable riff run like “Beneath the Remains”.
“Vile Extinction” is like watching the hack it up scenes in a favorite horror movie without placing any insight into the plot or character development. You know what to expect but wanted oh so much more, leaving less than satisfied. Hopefully future recordings take this into account, otherwise Merciless Terror will struggle to get beyond a basic underground following with their primitive form of death/thrash.
Matt Coe, HMS
msc2471@comcast.net