Hirax - El Rostro de la Muerte

Artwork by Ed Repka, logo by Tom G. Warrior Review by Cosmo Lee

It amazes me that Hirax aren’t more well-known in their home country. Instead, they seem to be most popular in South America. The Spanish title of their newest album, El Rostro de la Muerte (Black Devil, 2009) is perhaps a nod to that. Endless lineup changes haven’t benefited the band, and even its current incarnation has only two constants, vocalist Katon De Pena and guitarist Glenn Rogers.

Eradicate Mankind

But that’s been plenty adequate. 2004’s The New Age of Terror is my favorite post-’80s thrash album, 2007’s Assassins of War EP was solid (review here), and 2008’s Thrash and Destroy DVD, recorded at the Keep It True festival, is one of the best live sets I’ve ever seen.

El Rostro continues this hot streak. It’s straight-up, balls-out thrash about war, death, and other metal standbys. (“Blind Faith,” however, has curiously sunny lyrics about religious open-mindedness.) Hirax won’t win points for innovation, and some fault them for lack of catchiness. De Pena’s air raid siren vocals are more than memorable for me, though, and I don’t expect the band to do anything other than thrash. In this respect, they have few peers. If you’re up front at a metal show, banging your head off, songwriting isn’t your first concern. You want your ass kicked. Hirax do that with aplomb.