Note: this review was published back in 2015, when I was reviewing for the site Sea of Tranquility.
Nostalgia-based revival bands are all the rage these days, aren't they? For every new metal band that tries to push the envelope of how we perceive the genre, there's always a new band that looks back to a previous decade as its primary inspiration. Perhaps the most fruitful of these revivals is the abundance of 80s-throwback thrash metal coming out right now; not only are older bands like Slayer and Anthrax still making records, bands like Italy's Satanika and Brazil's Nervosa have been making waves in modern thrash from their respective scenes. So with thrash being quite big today because of people riding the nostalgia train, Swedish metal stalwarts Gehennah currently fit right in.
Gehennah formed in 1992, during an era in which their country was busy with the trends of melodic death metal and black metal music; while the band do have gruff vocals, it's the highly thrash-oriented sound that sets them apart from their contemporaries. Their new album Metal Police is pretty much no different, featuring gravelly shouts over punchy punk-inspired speed metal riffs. However, while this album may seem like a full-length record on the surface, it's actually just an EP with a bunch of bonus tracks rerecorded from previous records by the band, presumably by order of their new label Metal Blade Records. Anyway, as I said before, this album is a great buy for fans of 80s thrash metal who want something fast to consistently bang their heads to. The production is just raw enough without being too muddled, and crisp enough that all instruments are heard loud and clear. In the end though, it's the songwriting that's especially strong here.
Right from the explosive title track, Gehennah waste no time making their presence known. Between the crossover thrash-inspired anthem "Four Knuckle Facelift," the bluesy Motorhead-esque "Crime Career," and the heavy and aptly-titled "Fuck 'Em All," this is some violent and brutal thrash through and through. It's highly refreshing that there are no frills or gimmicks here, just your typical guitar-bass-drums-vocals setup and loads of anger and aggression. The reissued tracks are also quite good, being updated nicely with fresher production values; unfortunately, the fact that there are so many reissued tracks here can certainly be a deal-breaker for anyone already familiar with Gehennah's back catalogue. Also, homogeneity is the biggest overall problem with Metal Police; I know I just mentioned that the lack of frills and gimmicks was a good thing, but it would have been nice to have a bit more variety in the songwriting. The album's sound is mostly just fast and pissed off; there really aren't many alterations in mood or overall composition that distinguish each song upon the first few listens.
Then again, that's probably the point. The biggest strength of Metal Police is that it doesn't take any shit from anybody. It's a pure thrash/punk experience that revels in speed and just having a good time. I'd say it's best for either newcomers to the band or hardcore completionists, as casual fans won't find a whole lot of value in only 4 original tracks and a bunch of rerecorded ones from past albums. But for those completionists and newcomers out there, you're in for one hell of a fun treat.
