Thulsa Doom was born five years ago.
And since their debut EP in 2018, V.K. Nail (guitar/vocals, Necromancer, ex-Vultures Vengeance), F. Phantomlord (bass/guitar, ex-Lurking Terror), B.G. Triumph (drums, ex-Demonomancy) and A. Cutthroat (bass, Demon Bell, Demonomancy, Vultures Vengeance) cultivate a greasy Death Metal. In 2022, the band announced the release of A Fate Worse Than Death, their first album, on Invictus Productions.
Where Death Dwells starts with a martial basis which quickly offers wild Death Metal influences to crush us without forgetting those crazy lead parts, developing a contrast with pure rage and the thick Old School influences just like Cursed Domains Beyond which unveils sharp and energetic sounds. The jerky rhythmic lets raw sound wreak havoc between cavernous vocal parts and aggressive patterns, but frantic leads are not aside, until the sound calms down before Into the Vaults of Angmar which will remind of Tolkien’s inspirations found in this heavy track’s darkness. We find mysterious influences on Tomb of the Serpent Cult and its disturbing riffs, in particular in the sharp leads which are anchored on this heavy basis coupled with oppressive screams before the eponymous track, A Fate Worse Than Death, offers us an instrumental break linked to this dark and suffocating Death Metal. Order of the Black follows with a much colder, martial and uncompromising sound which will nail us to the ground while lacerating us with explosions of violence, then Hung, Drawn and Quartered turns towards Brutal Death to develop more violent influences. We obviously find this aggressive touch which draws from the style’s massive and jerky roots, while Last Portal of Xhul will only reveal its oppressive rhythmic after raw and hypnotic leads. The contrast between the two aspects of the rhythmic is striking and extremely catchy even during the slower and haunting moments eventually driving us to The Dawn of the Fire Age which borrows its harmonics from a warlike English band. Leads come out again from the bowels of the style’s pioneers, and they give way to The Orgy, a last composition which closes this album with libidinous and unhealthy tonalities.
If the name Thulsa Doom is not unknown to you, then you already have a foot in the underground Death Metal scene. And I’m sure that A Fate Worse Than Death will please you as much as the band’s first release, which was already a guarantee of quality!
90/100