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Skullblast E.P.

    
       
       
       
     
             
Assassin are a thrash metal band from Germany forming in 1982 as Satanica, changing their name to Assassin and releasing six albums to date - 'The Upcoming Terror' (1987), 'Interstellar Experience' (1988), 'The Club' (2005), 'Breaking The Silence' (2011), 'Combat Cathedral' (2016), and 'Bestia Immundis' (2020). And in 2024, an incredible forty years after the bands formation, Assassin release their first ever E.P. 'Skullblast'.    
             
Featuring five songs - four new and one cover (a blistering take on a classic) - the German thrashers are in top gear, delivering aggression fuelled brutal thrash metal at phenomenal speeds! 'Blood For Blood' opens the E.P. in typical Assassin fashion - brutally heavy with copious amounts of menace and aggression to scare the pants of everyone! Well nearly everyone, 'cause us diehard thrashers are standing tall and urging the German outfit to hit us with all they've got - and at one and a half minutes in, the band do just that! The change of pace, tempo and feel is dramatic, Assassin slamming every listener through the wall and into next fucking week with immense force! And if you thought 'Blood For Blood' was savage, just wait until you hear the title song 'Skullblast' - heavier, faster and more ferocious, the band fired up for this one and ready to wreak havoc with a mighty vengeance!    
             
And keeping the pace extremely high, 'In And Out By The Tide' is classic sounding German thrash as devised, designed and created by the iconic Teutonic Four - Kreator, Sodom, Destruction and Tankard - Assassin keeping the pedal well and truly pressed to the metal! The speed, aggression and head bang ability here is top level stuff from a top level band who have been there, done that, and are still doing it! And doing it very well too, 'Cut Your (Own) Throat' maintaining the all conquering intensity of the E.P. And at its fastest too, 'Cut Your (Own) Throat' banging heads harder than any other song has - Assassin sending every listener, thrasher, mosher and metalhead fucking wild with frantic excitement.    
             
The fifth and final song on the E.P. is a cover of 'The Green Manalishi (With The Two Prong Crown)' - probably best known in the metal world as a Judas Priest cover, the British metallers covering it on their 1979 album 'Hell Bent For Leather'. However, 'The Green Manalishi (With The Two Prong Crown)' was originally written by English blues rock singer songwriter, guitarist and Fleetwood Mac co-founder Peter Green. It was released by Fleetwood Mac as a single in 1970, reaching number ten in the British singles charts, shortly after which Green left the band. And now fifty four years after its initial release, 'The Green Manalishi (With The Two Prong Crown)' gets a thrash metal makeover courtesy of Assassin. And when I say makeover, Assassin have re-worked, re-done and re-imagined various aspects of the song, aspects you're just gonna have to discover for yourself by listening to it - so what ya waiting for? Go get your copy of 'Skullblast' E.P. now!    
             
Overall, a ferocity fuelled rampage of highly head bang-able thrash from one of the best thrash metal bands around - Assassin.    
             
             
Review by Iron Mathew Collins    
             
Reviewed for Metal Gods TV    
             
Review is also featured at Metal-Roos    
             
             
Other Reviews    
             

           
           
Bestia Immundis      
           
"a phenomenally fast paced, savage barrage of ferocious thrash metal, fiercely brutal and an absolutely fantastic listen" Read Review      
     
     
     
           
             
             
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