WEAPÖNIZER from Denver, Colorado are back with «The Steel Beast», their third full-length album, after nearly ten years of silence. The band plays a mix of black and thrash with speed metal velocity, full of aggression and a raw sound.
“`Country: USA
Genre: Black/Thrash, Speed Metal
For fans of: Midnight, Venom, Nocturnal Breed
The band started around 2009, formed by three people with ties to the death metallers Carrion Crawler and Nekrofilth. After a demo and a few live tapes, their sound took shape at the meeting point of early speed metal, black metal and the violence of metalpunk, with references stretching from Venom to D.R.I. on the debut «Weapönizer» (2012) and a more polished take on «Lawless Age» (2017) via 20 Buck Spin.
On «The Steel Beast» most of the traits of the first two records remain. The album opens with «Witch Serpent» and shows a band that has put its weight behind shorter tracks, especially in the second half. «Engines» stands out with its Sodom-like stomp, «Victory» with its blackened rock ’n’ roll, and «The Masque», where hardcore punk takes the reins.
The album’s best moments lean more toward thrash, as on the fast «The Living Wake» and «Empire of Ash». The band sounds comfortable when it hits the gas, with a style that recalls Nocturnal Breed, though the balance between black metal and heavy metal does not stay steady from track to track. It does not reinvent the wheel, but it finds WEAPÖNIZER in good form and without needless filler.
See also: our presentation of Aggressive Perfector and the guide to the old school thrash albums.
