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Germany's Desaster have been battering listeners over the head with their patented brand of 101 proof black-thrash since the early 90s, and on 666-Satan's Soldiers Syndicate, the quartet shows no signs of being ready to hang up their bullet belts. If anything, the group sounds like they're more primed than ever to be the house band for hell's ninth circle, such is the hard-hitting yet catchy approach they employ throughout the album.

666-Satan's Soldiers Syndicate starts off with a short synthesizer intro, but don't let the atmospherics fool you, this isn't some wimpy symphonic black metal album. Desaster play thrashy, barbaric black metal in the Venom and Nifelheim vein, more often than not coming off like a more grim and primitive version of their classic German thrash elders such as Sodom and Kreator. In fact everything about 666-Satan's Soldiers Syndicate screams 80s, from the raw production values to song titles like "Tyrannizer" and "Hellbangers", to the distinct lack of blastbeats. Desaster stick to straightforward, simplistic riffs throughout the album, and this uncomplicated approach is their biggest strength. Whereas many bands in the genre tend to rip through their albums at 100 miles an hour with little thought to actual songwriting, each track on 666-Satan's Soldiers Syndicate is crafted for maximum headbangability. You'd be hard-pressed to find a more memorable batch of tunes on a contemporary thrash record, not to mention a great deal of the genre's so-called "classics".

Further bolstering the album are several stellar guest appearances. Primordial frontman Alan Nemtheanga lends his formidable pipes to "Tyrannizer", while Ashmedi of Melechesh supplies guest guitar-work on "Angel Extermination". Proscriptor McGovern of US black metal stalwarts Absu composed the album's intro and lends his patented shriek to the aforementioned "Tyrannizer". These guest performances genuinely enhance the album rather than coming off as gimmicky or out of place and add an extra touch of variation to the proceedings.

With 666- Satan's Soldiers Syndicate, Desaster have further cemented their reputation for consistently releasing quality blackened thrash metal that's, above all, a hell of a lot of fun to listen to. If you're looking for the soundtrack to your next whisky-fuelled graveyard party, look no further.

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Reviewer: Josh Haun Added: April 22nd 2008