Are you a fan of Eighties Bay Area Thrash? Then may I introduce you to a noisy bunch of Australians called Harlott. Formed in 2006 they are a thrash metal band, with an obvious liking for Testament and Slayer, who have just released their third album Extinction (Metal Blade).

They have been getting progressively better with each release, with this their finest yet. It still matches the brutality and ferociousness of their previous offerings Origin (Source of Deluge) and Proliferation (Independent) but the production and song-writing has gone up in leaps and bounds. The title track and ‘Parasite’ typify this; it is proper, crushing Thrash but paired with a strong sense of melody and the latter track sporting a brilliantly catchy guitar lick that will be circling round your head for days.

The usual array of destructive and violent topics are covered, apocalyptic overtones in the traditional thrasher ‘No Past’ and war in the hefty ‘Conflict Revelation’. In the latter Tom Richard’s bass leads you to a wondrous chorus barked at you in between punishing riffs. They sound like 21st century Testament, with the menacing growl of lead singer Andrew Hudson reminiscent of Chuck Billy.

Extinction is their most balanced, nuanced and longest album, but they still stay true to their thrash roots. ‘Violent Conspirator’ and ‘Final Weapon’ are the short, sharp blasts of punky metal that populated their previous two albums, complete with Hudson’s rapid fire vocal delivery and the impressively hectic drumming of Tim Joyce. They have added a slight progressive edge to their sound, demonstrated in the 7 minutes and 38 seconds of ‘And Darkness Brings The Light’, a Heavy Metal epic that has power and ferocity throughout, taking obvious cues from …And Justice For All (Elektra) era Metallica.

The difficult third album syndrome means nothing to these Australian thrashers.

9.0/10

THOMAS THROWER