Persecutor is celebrating its fifteenth anniversary!
Formed in Denmark in 2011 under the name 13 Bloodlines, then Desecrator until 2016, the band is now led by Benjamin Stage (guitar), Christopher Hejgaard (drums), Christian Andrés Almanza (bass/vocals), and Stefan Sørensen (guitar). In 2026, the band released Casualties of Violence, their third album.
The eponymous track Casualties of Violence welcomes us with a fairly short but heavy introduction that leads into Born in Blood and its haunting melodies, which transform into a veritable wave of pure aggression between virulent thrash and metalcore. The vocals obviously follow suit, shifting from sharp screams to much heavier passages depending on the rhythm, as in the finale, then Iron Tide of Nassau takes over, significantly accelerating the movement. The track offers unifying passages that the band will be able to exploit live without any problems, but also sharp harmonics, just like Acta Est Fabula, which offers a slightly more Old School approach of Thrash roots, also adopting their aggression and liveliness. The jerky riffs are legion, working perfectly with the few piercing leads, then the band follows up with The Hangman, a slightly more martial composition that takes advantage of its groovy base to make itself catchy and make us want to bang our heads. The track also ends with a polished lead section followed by a final chorus, and then it’s time to headbang to 1984, imagining how powerful this song must be live. Everything in this song makes us want to move, but the pace slows down with A Way in Life, a longer and more varied track that still maintains an almost constant natural tension while adding a little more melody. The same is true of Broken Arrow, a track that is similar in length but also quite diverse, particularly in terms of vocals, where the screams sometimes flirt with Death Metal, then the album comes to an end with To Hold Hands With Death, a shorter track that knows exactly how to get straight to the point and offer incisive riffs with a touch of technicality in the harmonics.
Persecutor offers with Casualties of Violence an album that is a little short but extremely effective and knows how to hit hard when it needs to. The tracks flow perfectly and will be excellent assets in a live setting!
85/100