You have to admire the tenacity of German thrash metal. I mean you have such great bands like Destruction, Kreator and Sodom still going strong, but there’s also second and third tier acts like Assassin still forging ahead. For those who do not know, Assassin released The Upcoming Terror in 1987 and followed that album up with Interstellar Experience a year later in 1988. I liked both albums and thought they would have a great career in the second tier slot of German thrash; however that didn’t happen. Instead the band broke up in 1989 after they had their equipment and gear stolen. It might seem like a silly thing to do, but this actually happened. You can look this up if you don’t believe me.

Anyhow, putting that event aside, the band finally got their shit together and ultimately reformed in 2002. They had albums out in 2005 and 2011, but fell silent again until Combat Cathedral in 2016. I was blown away by the voraciousness of “angry” thrash found here; putting it up against bands like Warbringer and Onslaught without any hesitation whatsoever. Then Bestia Immundis was unleashed in 2020, sounding even better than Combat Cathedral with nasty faster-paced guitars in the offering.

This now brings us to the new EP Skullblast; due out November 8th, on Massacre Records. This release has four new tracks and one cover song of Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Green Manalishi’. Although this is a rather short affair, these songs come armed to the teeth with balls-out aggression and raw energy that marks this current iteration of Assassin as a fucking brilliant thrash band. One of the reasons I liked Combat Cathedral so much was because of the addition of Frank Blackfire (formerly of Sodom) on guitars. His contributions to thrash metal goes without saying, but since joining the band; he formed a solid one-two punch with founding member Jurgen Scholtz. But it looks like he’s made his exit and has been replaced by guitarist Stefano Smura. I was bummed out by this move, but once I heard the four tracks; I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked the songs.

The opening track ‘Blood For Blood’ roars to life with the vibe of 80’s thrash in the vein of early Sodom. The vocals are savagely delivered; accompanied by gang vocals and aided by fast riffs to put the cherry on top. Vocalist Ingo Bajoncak is on fire here and has shown how good of a replacement he’s become after original vocalist Robert Gonnella left in 2014. The title track ‘Skullblast’ is heavy as hell, but it’s the chorus that really sticks in your brain. The solo is ripping fast and along with the chugging intensity, this song is going to go over great on the live set.

The chugs continue to shine on ‘In And Out Of The Tide’. This track has another catchy chorus, but the song slows down a bit and doesn’t sacrifice any of the heaviness found on the first two tracks. For what it’s worth, the next track ‘Cut Your (Own) Throat” maintains the speed and heaviness, but I swear Ingo starts to sound a lot like Lemmy in spots. Oddly enough, this could sub in as a Motörhead song in some ways, but make no mistake this still holds the signature Assassin sound. We then end things off with a cover of Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Green Manalishi (With Two Prong Crown)’. I don’t mind the attempt of translating the song into the thrash metal template, but I prefer the Judas Priest cover.

I did enjoy this EP, but generally I find releases this short underwhelming. In the case of Skullblast, the batch of new songs continue to showcase Assassin 2.0’s tenacity to write modern sounding thrash with a hint of an 80’s vibe. The cover artwork is a delight and it was neat they brought in guest vocalist Patrick Pagliaro (from Child Of Caesar) for a couple of songs. If you like Combat Cathedral and Bestia Immundis, give this a try too.