- Genre: 'Thrash Metal'
- Release Date: '12th July 2019'
Our Rating:
‘Bursting out of Newcastle Upon Tyne,’, the press release informs us, ‘Kilonova spit out an incendiary, thrash-tinged sound combining Bay-Area intensity with a tectonic modern groove.’
The EP’s 6 tracks are hard and fast, with lead cut ‘Straight to Hell’ being a dingy, shrieking morass of crusty noise. They sure as hell whip up a frenzy of fury. The guitars, bass and drums are all thrashed and pounded at breakneck speed, to the point that they melt together into a blur of distortion and primitive production. Meanwhile, the vocals are horse-throated, rasping shrieks for the most part, although there are some unexpected switches to grungier stylings: ‘Blood on the Water’ is a grunge / metal hybrid that’s as much Hole and Solar Race as it is their preferred references like Gojira and Avenged Sevenfold.
Ultimately, while they do a decent job of hammering out some competent, gnarly thrash, and I probably shouldn’t feel the need to draw attention to the fact they’re female-fronted, but I will, if only because Ellen Hill brings a rare ferocity that deserves mention as the secret weapon in the arsenal of a band with all the firepower.
