Album Review: Hellish – The Spectre of Lonely Souls (Unspeakable Axe Records)

Many continents can lay claim to being formative breeding grounds for various pieces of the extreme metal puzzle, but perhaps none were such a melting pot as South America in the 1980s. Bands in Brazil, Chile, and other countries pushed thrash metal to its limits until it blurred into what would later be known as black and death metal. This is where Hellish were born.

Coming out of Santiago, Chile in 2010, Hellish previously made believers out of thrash fans worldwide with their Unspeakable Axe-released debut, Grimoire. Only two years later, the follow-up album called The Spectre of Lonely Souls manages to out-pace and out-riff what came before. It will be released on July 27th via the same label.

A gothic-sounding keyboard intro is out of place with what follows. Eight tracks of raw, furious and high-speed thrash/black metal. Hellish are a demonic force looking to flay the skin from your bones.

The black metal sound is present in the vocals but the guitars and drumming are all about the thrash with high-tempo riffing, crashing drums and screeching solos.

An evil sounding record, it really appeals to the darker, more sinister side of the soul as The Screams Come from Inside, The Curse Upon Us, The Walker of Shadows and Sacrifice roar with untamed malice.

A particularly impressive number comes from the ritualistic rhythm of Souls of Desolation. Leaning way more towards black metal, it really gets under the skin like a nasty infection.

The Spectre of Lonely Souls is fairly short which is no bad thing as the rawness of the record does begin to lose its lustre near the end. That being said, Hellish are an intriguing band and this record certainly shows they have plenty to offer the metal world.

Hellish – The Spectre of Lonely Souls Full Track Listing:

1. Rising
2. The Night
3. The Screams Come From Inside
4. The Curse Upon Us
5. Souls Of Desolation
6. Only Death
7. The Walker Of Shadows
8. Sacrifice
9. Bloody Tales

You can order the album here, via Bandcamp and find out more via Facebook.