Arctic Horror – Cages EP

The current trend of bands nurturing metal aesthetics over the ferocious hardcore punk is on the rise. These particular combinations are unavoidable, especially if you’re knee-deep into the contemporary crust punk scene. Besides popular brews such as blackened crust, death crust, and neo-crust, newer groups also produce gracious portions of old school thrash metal elements to the table. These crossovers become common over the last decade, and the vast majority of bands nailed in their attempt to pay tribute to the specific sound. Arctic Horror is one of those groups that include crossover thrash aesthetics over ferocious crust punk music. The band has been active for a while and has released some decent recordings since the initial formation. Previous records such as the full-length debut Blackened Corpses Sickened Minds, and Goatist EP have set some standards to the sound of the band. However, the new material showcases loads of improvements displayed through four intense compositions. Arctic Horror bursts with crunchy noisiness transmitted through energetic crossover thrash riffages. The guitar sound resembles instrumentations previously heard in music performed by Venom, Motörhead, Celtic Frost, Cro-Mags, The Accüsed, Darkthrone, World Burns To Death, Nausea…and other similar bands. The group gradually adds some sludge fuzziness, doomy half-step tempos, and chaotic blastbeats. These additions enhance the dynamics of the entire band, so the compositions flourish with ear-appealing arrangements and thoughtful song structures. Ferocious lead vocals bring even more rage to the overall atmosphere with beasty shoutouts, and these chants complete the darkened aesthetics of the Arctic Horror. Perhaps the band drains inspiration from crossover thrash, but the obscure crust punk vibe is their primary weapon of choice. Both genres are equally present on the record and perfectly matched to fit mentioned aesthetics. Subtle dosage of studio reverb liberates megalithic feel though the tracks that resemble the eighties production technics. Arctic Horror thought about each segment of Cages EP, from obscure sounding guitars and sinister riffages to relentless rhythmical acrobatics. It’s a marvelous material that will suit fans of both old school crossover thrash and crust punk sound. Cages EP is currently available on their Bandcamp page, but I sincerely hope this material will eventually show up as 7” release in the nearest future.