The second album from Lisbon’s Perpetratör, Altered Beast is an onslaught of hammering old-school thrash, built upon heavy, fast riffing that shifts tempos with a brain-twisting lurch and virtuoso, blazing solos. It’s a style strongly reminiscent of Coma Of Souls era Kreator and late-80s Destruction. Hellthrasher, Doors Of Perception and Black Sacristy – a cover of obscure 80s US thrashers Pontius Prophet – are all pure adrenaline rushes, the latter two featuring guest vocals from Flávio Lino, who won TV competition The Voice Portugal with his rendition of Painkiller. Altered Beast is delivered with vitality and anger, and if the production has a touch of modern polish it never lessens impact and or the feeling of authenticity. There may be lots of bands ploughing the same, apocalyptic furrow, but fans of the more barbarian end of thrash will lap this up.
Perpetratör - Altered Beast album review
Portuguese thrashers offer their pledge to the old school
You can trust Louder Our experienced team has worked for some of the biggest brands in music. From testing headphones to reviewing albums, our experts aim to create reviews you can trust. Find out more about how we review.
More about metal hammer
"Our label said, ‘You guys will be the next Metallica’, and that bummed me out." Stoner rock legend Brant Bjork on why he didn't want Kyuss to be megastars
"Babymetal were written into the script as a placeholder. I didn’t think we’d actually get them!" Heavier Trip director Juuso Laatio on making 2024's most metal movie
