### Zombiekrig: Den vänstra stigens ljus

#### 25/01/13 || Ironpants

Bring out the thrash.

Be warned all critters from outside of Sweden, these guys sing in Swedish. And it’s not about meatballs and IKEA, not even blonde chicks.

Thrash metal, that old thing that banged everyone’s head and then got banged by glam rock (at least regarding public popularity). It shoulda been the other way around. For us old fuckers who have been around for a while, it’s a genre that filled our pitiful teen days with joy and under the influence of strong beverages we formed 3-man mosh ”pits” on some soccer field down by the school and toxic waltzed through the night.

This is slightly before death metal entered the stage and totally screwed the shit out of all the thrash metal acts. Well, maybe not all of them? The best bands of the scene took a real good beating, got slammed down and was locked in a choke hold for a decade or two. I’m talking about Testament, Anthrax, Exodus and handful of others who are slowly experiencing a short comeback to fill our lives with desperate tries to take over the world once again before they croak once and for all.

I actually enjoyed thrash metal… a lot… when I was 13 years old. And occasionally, I still allow myself to mosh around in my living room when nobody´s watching. This often happen after a bucket of moonshine and two or thirteen beers too many… alone… in the night… I hate my life…

Nowadays, I have some problems with the new wave of thrash bands that enter the stage. I dont know why really? It should appeal to my inner desires to feel young again, as any other old fart, but the music does´nt get to me.

Every rule has exceptions though, like the band “Zombiekrig” (Zombiewar). They appeared out of nowhere (?) debuting in 2010 with the album ”Undantagstillstånd” (State of emergency) presenting a riffy and almost punky sort of thrash, in the veins of early Kreator, Exodus and Sodom. On this album though, they have developed the sound towards the crunchier bay area style music, with a more clear and modern production. A bit more like, let´s say, for instance… hmm… Metallica! I´m talking about the first four albums or so, not the ”St Anger” or ”Lulu” or whatever they call their newest crapfest extravaganza record.

The opening track, ”Själamord” (Soulmurder) starts of with a guitar melody that is a spinoff from Metallica´s intro to “Battery”, and when the song kicks off for real it becomes true ”Flattery”. It´s so obvious so you can´t even call it a ripoff, more like a tribute, a salute to times long gone. The second track ”Stäng av dig själv” (Shutdown yourself) is a riff-o-rama reminding you that the four horsemen is drawing nearer. And so it continues, the album even presents an instrumental in the same tradition as you know who.

There is some things that actually totally strays away from the path of above mentioned legends. One is the vocals presented, this nightingale flies in a totally different direction. It is harsh and screamy vocals, in a higher pitch (no not Dani Filth), perfectly backed up in the choruses by a deep and gruesome voice that makes it top notch, There is also some clean vocals in the chorus for ”Evigt liv” (Eternal life) that delivers a perfect desperate feeling and a nice touch of despair.

The lyrics is taking care of the more important issues of church matters and christian opression. “Den vänstra stigen ljus” literally means “The light of the left hand path” which is clearly displayed on the white album cover which displays a bible front with an inverted cross. Awesome album cover by the way, it´s hard not to notice what´s going on here. Other song titles include “Anklagaren” (The accuser), ”Träl” (Slave), ”Evigt död” (Eternal death) and ”Hatarna” (Haters).

Blackened thrash? How do you like that? Too bad for you, our foreign friends, that you can’t understand the lyrics because it’s cleverly presented. There are also some samplings taken from Christian gatherings where the preacher is speaking in tongues, or a female preacher talking about ”Gods right to close the gates if you´re not ready to pay the price”. This also provides an even better setting for the songs.

This album simply touch my boyish lost soul deep inside this slightly obese and slowly decomposing body. I hope that the slightly retarded sound of Swedish lyrics don’t stop you from checking this shit out?

Thrash or die!

- Information
- Released: 2012
- Label: GMR Entertainment
- Website: Zombiekrig Facebook
- Band
- Axel Widén: vocals
- El Guapo: guitars
- Martin Petersson: bass
- Kevin Weber: drums

- Tracklist
- 01. Själamord
- 02. Stäng av dig själv
- 03. Träl
- 04. Häng dom högt över stan
- 05. Evigt död
- 06. Anklagaren
- 07. Hataren
- 08. Evigt liv
- 09. Den vänstra stigens ljus
- 10. Så tar allt slut