Band:	Cruel Force
Album:	Dawn Of The Axe
Style:	Black metal, Thrash metal
Release date:	August 2023

01. Azrael’s Dawn
02. At The Dawn Of The Axe
03. Night Of Thunder
04. Death Rides The Sky
05. Devil’s Dungeon
06. Watchtower Of Abra
07. Across The Styx
08. Power Surge
09. Realm Of Sands

You're probably going to need to keep some extra strong painkillers handy if you're planning on headbanging to this Cruel Force. They certainly Show No Mercy here with their latest blackened thrash offering, Dawn Of The Axe.

Cruel Force are a German blackened thrash band which formed back in 2008 and have made several releases (The Rise Of Satanic Might in 2010 and Under The Sign Of The Moon in 2011) before disbanding in 2012. Featuring members Carnivore (vocals), Teutonic Slaughter (guitars), GG Alex (drums) and Spider (bass) (perhaps gimmicky name titles), the band now return to the scene after ten years in the dark, unleashing their third offering: Dawn Of The Axe. This is a step even further back to the dawn of thrash, taking inspiration from the early days of Slayer, above all. In fact, Dawn Of The Axe is inspired by Show No Mercy to the point where several tracks such as "At The Dawn Of The Axe", "Death Rides The Sky", and "Devil’s Dungeon" could even be considered an early Slayer rip-off. But to hell with that; those damn riffs and sheer energy should have any thrasher banging their head and pumping their fists all over the place from beginning to end, despite having heard those riffs, melodies, and whole track structures before.

So, if it's originality you want to hear, you can forget it, and if you think this is going to have a standard, modern production quality, you can forget about that too. There's nothing refined or modern about the sound here. Yes, the production is deliberately outdated; it throws you straight back into the filthy, stripped-back sound of early '80s thrash. The reason behind this: Cruel Force really want to give the listener as much of an authentic old-school experience as possible. It's as if Dawn Of The Axe was released during the time when Slayer, Venom, Celtic Frost, and Hellhammer had all began to emerge through the fresh, new, groundbreaking, excitingly vile scene we all know today. I know, we've heard it all before, where modern blackened thrash acts imitate those legendary acts that started it all off, but there are few acts that actually succeed in bringing that old dark energy and genuine exhilaration back to life (Hellripper and Midnight, for instance). Well, now you can add Cruel Force to that ever growing list.

Dawn Of The Axe opens with the short instrumental intro "Azrael's Dawn", which provides a rolling, thunderous drum beat, galloping rhythm, and striking guitar lead, which gradually builds up before unleashing the moniker single that is "At the Dawn of the Axe". This track screams Slayer's Show No Mercy more than anything I've heard outside of that very album itself, from the catchy verses and chorus spouting sinister lyrics to the ferociously melodic riffing and pounding rhythm section. I very much doubt you need me to tell you which direction this album is headed, but let's just say this opening track is just a taster of the ferocity, catchiness, and enjoyment this album will bring (if you're a fan of traditional, blackened thrash, that is).

Are there any stand-out moments, exactly? Well, there are several, in fact. The track "Devil's Dungeon", most of all. This is a track that shows the band's most diverse songwriting capabilities. The tempo isn't just ferocious here like the majority of the tracks featured; there are several slower-tempo sections, and the guitar solos here are most striking of all. Teutonic Slaughter provides some Mercyful Fate's La Roque-style solos, and the riffs, especially the opening riff, very much reminds me of something out of Hellripper's book.

Also going along the lines of songwriting diversity, you have a short Middle-Eastern instrumental interval "Watchtower Of Abra" which provides an ideal atmospheric breaking point at the album's midway point. This is not the only Middle-Eastern style melody you'll become accustomed to, though. The riffing on the epic closer "Realm Of Sands" provides some of those great effects also. This is a great closer that sounds something along the lines of "Slayer meets Absu", with some of the best riffs, leads and rhythms, the album offers. Now, if only the guitar and bass tone had that extra meatiness that this album lacks (this track, above all, suffers most because of this). The only other downside (other than the lack of meaty tone), for me, is the vocals, although they're certainly not off-putting in any way as such. Carnivore may not exactly be on the same level as Tom Araya, but he does his own job and brings the sinister aggression to the party.

All in all, there's nothing new or groundbreaking about Dawn Of The Axe. This album may simply pass many of us by as one of those endless unoriginal blackened thrash acts, come end of the year. If there's one album, though, that I can see myself regularly coming back to for nothing more than a hell of a good headbanging session to lighten up my mood, then it would be Dawn Of The Axe. The only Cruel Force here is not having this on repeat once you've listened to it. If you can get through this album without headbanging to at least one riff, then I myself must be going mad.