Being an 80-ties kid, do you know what aspect of the metal community of the time I miss the most? Something which got almost forever lost in the digital and internet era, or was transformed to unrecognizability in modern days, where the sources of information are countless and social media marketing is storming the musical world. TAPE TRADING! That sensation of dominance and an evil smile when you tell to your buddy “I have a band that you don’t know” or “Check out what I’ve found! It’s the bomb!”. Such occurrences were not the norm, especially in the communist country I come from and sparked great wave of excitement in the whole neighbourhood. Word of mouth and passing records to each other was the internet of the period, which being kind of romantic, almost religious experience, kept us together and was catalysing the metal movement nearly for two decades. And let’s face it – at that time very few bands made it beyond borders of their countries, each new name was cheerfully welcomed and was almost impossible to miss a rising star, even with the considerable delay and reduction in quality the Iron Curtain caused.

   Fast forward 30 years and the headbanger environment faces quite different dynamics and interchange of observation. The influx of new or unknown bands from all over the world is taking astonishing proportions and each day a tsunami of metal artist are battling for our attention and validation. Luckily, we still meet people from time to time, fans with different experience, preferences and degree of acceptance for heavy riffs and piercing vocals. Concerts, bar, pubs are a gathering point for us out there and occasionally you get that “A, ha!” moment when a long-time friend or community acquaintance pulls up the good old “I know a band” line. In this instant I get to confess that finding the Bavarian bandits from “THRILLER” for me was exactly such “A, ha!” moment, a revelation for which I will be probably forever grateful.

  According online data, the debut album of “THRILLER” was released on October 21st, 2023, which still qualifies it a fresh off the shelf. Under the urbanistic name of “Street Metal”, complemented with simple, yet attractive front cover, this record deserves a proper attention and after being totally blown away by the initial hear-through, I would go even further, putting this release as a legit candidate to make it in the Top3 Albums of The Year ranking. “Iron Goddess” is a kick-ass opener, which hits you in the jaw from the very start. It’s that moment you realise you’re facing a quite serious and committed band, praising anything that’s heavy and “made of steel”. The intro is filled with machinegun drumming and high-pitched guitars, before smashing into the main riff and waves of vox mastery delivered by the frontman Julez. Speed, power and possessive chorus are the remaining elements that leave the unsuspecting listener speechless and mesmerised. This choice of opener is not random and I can’t wait for the moment to encounter those guys on a live stage and witness how they open their act with that banger. “Aiming for Freedom” keeps on bashing with fistful of metal, pounding the ground from the very early moments. As if the band has no intention of letting us loose from the iron grip. That one has more “rock’n’roll” vibe, loyal to the teutonic tradition of metal expression, bequeathed from the founding fathers of German scene. We face a bit more rigid, yet solid sound here, the pace is steady and rhythmic, solo guitars come one step forward and the sing along vocal episodes stand out to further engage the audience. If the opener was an outburst of raw energy, the second album track is channelising the drive and amplifying it with vibrant booster to carry on the primal extasy.

  The intro riff of “Proud to be Different” is an opened cage of rage and the beast unleashed out of it shows no mercy. Sets the tone in an undisputable way, guaranteeing another four-and-a-half-minute rollercoaster of rock-n-roll prowess. The solo guitar intrusion just after the ending of each chorus, shows a massively ingenious approach to shift the vibe of the song and redirect the intensity on another magnitude. Not a chance for any sluggishness to slack till the next choir ensemble shouts out “Proud to different!”, electrifying the ambience and makes you jump high. As much as “THRILLER” take pride in being divergent, that third album track strongly reminds me on elements from the debut of their fellow germans from STALLION, which actually is a promising asset to exploit. Going deeper in the recording, another thing is perfectly certain – the guys are masters of killer kick-ass, neck-wrecking intros and really know how to serve a spicy appetizer, opening the senses for the main metal course. “Days are Gone” is exactly that type of dish that goes well garnished with multi-voice shout outs, embellished guitars, twists and turns in the tempo, sudden breaks to outburst in the next shredding riffage. The solo seems like the funnel of a collider to smash in the final refrain with blazing speed, creating splash of splendour.

  Ready for more?! At this point I am certainly salivating and “THRILLER” do not waste the momentum. Halfway through the album they “Bring me the Light” – a more classical oriented rocker in which the already familiar stylistic and musical elements are present, spiced with a snippet of vintage vibe. The vocal work steps back a bit, to endorse the orchestral exuberance, without sacrificing the synergy or spoiling the alloy with experimental impurity. Sounding both different and captivating, that 7-minute piece, from the marching start, all way through the slower interlude, up till the intense finale – everything falls in place in such a manner very few young formations are able to deliver that early in their career. Heavy metal outfit is hard to imagine without “Spikes and Leather” the same way we can’t portrait a potent debut album without a powerful hymnic manifesto, paying tribute to an important aspect of headbangers lifestyle. Here the boys openly praise their devotion to heavy metal, selling their souls to the gods rock ‘n’ roll. While the first half of the track goes under the banner of moderate rhythm section dominated procession, in which faithful vows are voiced, after 3:20 all goes berserk in mad speedy chase of guitar dueling and vocal charging to detonate towards end.

  “Street metal” is the name and “City’s on Fire” is the game! Guess that comes to illustrate the album cover and convey the visual impression into musical possession, leading us along the burning boulevards bombarded by merciless metal meteors. Following a prototypical intro, what comes next is all about flaming speed, high-pitched lead singing dialoging with the backing vocals, frantic guitar shredding and firing drums. Short, fast and unconditional – slam, bam, thank you!

  Drumroll…hold your horses, people! And yes – it’s another “best for last”. Was not placing big hopes on “Falling Night”, being a closer and not even a title track – a maneuver equally classical and trivial. And boy was I wrong!? A sledgehammer of perfection and metal skillfulness fell upon my ears, instantly stunning me in an utter disbelief. Engaging with the power intro and gradually building the structure of a colossal heavy hit, the combo of instrumental orchestration and rocking vox can sink in a singular category – flawless. Got literally addicted to this track, playing it all over and over again dozen or more times, to discover nuances I missed the previous take. And when that clapping-hands, sing-along of the last chorus kicked-in, presaging the final stokes, in bitter-sweet sadness I wished the end didn’t come so soon…

CONCLUSION: Precious findings tend to surface in the proper time and most often than not it’s a matter of fate, will you miss them unnoticed or the lucky roulette of endless album release will stop the ball in the moment you’re looking at the playing table. Even in the oversaturated times we live in, pure talent is hard to conceal, finding its strange ways to one’s attention. I am massively grateful of taking my friend’s advice by giving a try to “THRILLER” and was immediately blown away from this fresh release in the NWOTHM space. What’s more encouraging is that there is now a visible trend of german traditional scene to match in quality and quantity the leading forces of Sweden and North America. Next to names like STALLION, BLACKSLASH, TURBOKILL, SAVAGE, FIRMAMENT, ACID BLADE, DEFENDER, SINTAGE etc. there is a new kid on the block and he means business.

            “Street Metal” as a debut, has all the bells and whistles to turn into a great record, a masterpiece if you will, after it passes the test of time. Speedy rhythm, firing guitars, varied vocals and empowering sing-alongs, go hand in hand with galloping bass and machine gun drumming. The lyric messages are close to the heart of any devoted headbanger and I truly believe tons of people will identify themselves with the band and the album, once it gains more traction. Which by fact is already happening and “THRILLER” will be preferred participant in many underground festivals and concerts in Germany and beyond. To support that statement came the recent announcement that the quarter will be part of the line-up in the forthcoming TRVEHEIM heavy metal fest, taking place in Munich on 23. & 24. AUGUST 2024. And who told me about “THRILLER” after all?! Well, whoever it was, I’m a fan!

TheNwothm Score: 10/10

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