HARDWARES

Despite a pedigree that includes stints in Norwegian outfits like Old Funeral, Grimfist, Taake and Borknagar, this ensemble go for a retro thrash approach on the 11 doses off their full-length debut. Punk intensity (only the opening ‘Spirit Of Masculinity’ cracks four minutes and a trio fail to make three minutes!), buzzsaw guitars and gravel-throated screams dominate, although ‘Born In A Grave’ takes a decidedly pedestrian approach, complete with stinging guitar accents. Abbath, the throat of Immortal makes a guest appearance on ‘Man To Man’ (guitarist Tore Bratseth aka Stud Bronson played alongside Abbath in Old Funeral and the two currently have a Motorhead covers band, Bombers). Raw, aggressive, yet infectious. Even though the (promo?) tracklisting doesn’t match up, the titles are fairly discernible within the lyrics. ‘March Of The Veterans’ contains a snippet of atypically accomplished guitar work.