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Album Review – Morbyda / Under the Spell (2025)

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This relentless German Blackened Speed Metal horde is unleashing upon us their debut beast, a fresh breath of old air exhibiting both the fury of youth and the ageless wisdom of the ancients.

Part of the Leipziger Meuten, along with Dolchstoß and Wrahha, German Thrash/Speed Metal brigade Morbyda was founded in 2022 by vocalist and guitarist Chris (Indian Nightmare) and drummer Joris (Boundless Chaos, Lemongrab) with the intention to shred some skull-crushing Blackened Speed Metal. Now in 2025, after the addition of second guitarist Julez (Sintage) and bassist Antonio (Pursuit) to the band’s lineup, the band is ready to kill armed with their debut full-length offering, titled Under the Spell, a fresh breath of old air, wild yet locked-in, exhibiting both the fury of youth and the ageless wisdom of the ancients, therefore remaining a Heavy Metal album above all, fully embraced by an ass-kicking, classic artwork by Bronze and Bones.

Just like a demented entity arising from the pits of hell, the quartet will spread hatred and sulfur in the frantic Evil, where the guitars by Chris and Julez exhale pure Thrash Metal for our total delight. Then investing in an old school, 80’s-inspired Speed Metal sonority we have Mother Of Decay, with Chris’ deranged vocals being boosted by the classic beats and fills by Joris, whereas blending the fastest sounds from the early days of Iron Maiden, Motörhead, Running Wild and Megadeth we’re treated to Open The Gates Of Fire, spearheaded by the razor-edged riffs by the band’s guitar duo. And a sinister intro evolves into six minutes of scorching metal music entitled Turning The Wheel Of Steel, where their fast and furious riffs will inspire you to bang your heads nonstop as well as the electrifying beats by Joris.

The album continues to move forward at full speed with The Curse, offering an overdose of caustic riffs and solos, rumbling bass sounds and pounding drums, all in the name of our good old Thrash Metal, and their minimalist yet cryptic guitar lines gradually set fire to the atmosphere in Sacrifice, not reaching the same level of insanity of the other songs but still very enjoyable; followed by the scathing Under Her Spell, with Chris and Julez once again making a rabid dual riff attack, melting our faces with their incendiary Thrash and Speed Metal. Lastly, let’s party inside the mosh pit one final time to the sound of Morbid Ways Of Dying, with the striking riffs and solos by Chris and Julez penetrating deep inside our skin, therefore putting a beyond frantic ending to the album.

After all is said and done, it’s guaranteed you’ll fall Under the Spell, where old-days references could include Japan’s Sabbat, millennial Nifelheim, the late and great Eidomantum, early Tribulation, or Hungary’s Tormentor, but all that’s to underline just how advanced Morbyda are at this early stage. Don’t forget to follow those speed thrashers on Instagram for news, tour dates and so on, and of course to grab a copy of their caustic and infuriated new album from the Dying Victims Productions’ BandCamp or webstore. Chris, Julez, Antonio and Joris are casting a spell upon us of an undisputed, harsh and scorching blend of Blackened Thrash and Speed Metal, and you better get ready because once that spell hits your damned soul, there’s no way out.

Best moments of the album: Mother Of Decay, Open The Gates Of Fire and Under Her Spell.

Worst moments of the album: Sacrifice.

Released in 2025 Dying Victims Productions

Track listing
1. Evil 3:33
2. Mother Of Decay 5:44
3. Open The Gates Of Fire 4:43
4. Turning The Wheel Of Steel 6:19
5. The Curse 3:48
6. Sacrifice 4:36
7. Under Her Spell 6:18
8. Morbid Ways Of Dying 5:08

Band members
Chris – vocals, guitars
Julez – guitars
Antonio – bass
Joris – drums

Metal Chick of the Month – Jamie Lee Cussigh

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Beware the blade, all Hail the Sacrifice!

As the days get shorter and the nights grow darker and colder, our metal lady of the month of November at The Headbanging Moose definitely had to represent all the heaviness that fills the air in preparation for the coming winter. She’s the epitome of underground heavy music, lending her raw and intuitive bass sound to amazing bands like Sacrifizer and Triumph of Death, always with a badass attitude, while at the same time also venturing through non-extreme lands like with her Coldwave project named Letten 94. Her name is Jamie Lee Cussigh, also known as SlaughterWytch or Dolorès, depending on which band she’s working on at a specific point in time, and she will kick your ass mercilessly with her more than thunderous bass lines.

Half Bulgarian and half Italian, but born in Switzerland (where she currently resides), Jamie nurtures a deep passion for all things heavy music from a very young age. “I started to listen to metal very young, around 11 or 12 years old and the first album I discovered and bought was the Kill Em All by Metallica. I started to play bass at 13.” Also a private music teacher, either online or in person, Jamie went to Conservatoire de Musique de Neuchâtel, in Switzerland, where she perfect her skills as a musician, which is probably one of the reasons why she can fluctuate between styles without any effort, always sounding sharp and in sync with the rest of the band she’s working with.

Her main band or project since 2019 has been undoubtedly Zurich, Switzerland-based Speed/Thrash/Black Metal entity Triumph of Death, Tom Gabriel Fischer aka Tom G Warrior’s personal tribute to his iconic band Hellhammer, with the name of the band being inspired by the infamous title-track of Hellhammer’s 1983 cult demo. The vast body of Hellhammer’s work remained unperformed for years, with Tom’s other bands Triptykon and Celtic Frost only playing a couple of songs here and there, until the inception of Triumph Of Death. Currently formed of the aforementioned Tom Gabriel Warrior on vocals and guitar, our diva Jamie Lee Cussigh on bass, André Mathieu also on the guitar, and Tim Iso Wey on drums, the band has already has played a number of highly acclaimed concerts, such as Hellfest (France), Wacken Open Air (Germany), Party.San (Germany), Brutal Assault (Czech Republic), Psycho Las Vegas (USA), Merry Christless (Poland), Inferno Festival (Norway), Maryland Deathfest (USA), UK Deathfest, and Mexico Metal Fest, among others.

“I was lucky to be contacted by Tom Gabriel Fischer and he gave me this big chance and opportunity. I also take this opportunity to express my gratitude to him. He’s a beautiful person and I’m very thankful to him,” commented Jamie, who also mentioned the release of new material when she joined the project. “It’s a long-term and permanent project. We will release live material (Hellhammer music) and likely eventually even a studio album with our own material in the style of Hellhammer.” Well, after that interview the promise of releasing live material has already become a reality with the release of the amazing live album Resurrection of the Flesh by the end of 2023, recorded during three festival performances in 2023 in Houston (United States), Munich (Germany) and Barroselas (Portugal). Some of the songs became official videos on their official YouTube channel, including the excellent Decapitator and Massacra, but the band also offers live footage from other festivals in their channel like the songs Massacra, Visions of Mortality, Aggressor and The Third of The Storms (Evoked Damnation), from their 2022 concert at Maryland Deathfest, and you can also click HERE to grab your favorite version of their live album.

Apart form Triumph of Death, Jamie can be found as the bassist for a fantastic French Blackened Speed/Thrash Metal band named Sacrifizer, in this case under the moniker SlaughterWytch, having joined the band a little after their inception back in 2017, and having already recorded with them the 2019 EP La Mort Triomphante, and more recently the full-length album Le Diamant de Lucifer, back in 2022, and both can be appreciated in full on Spotify. According to the band, they were “created after a midnight ritual”, and our dauntless SlaughterWytch alongside Sexumer on vocals, NightReaper and H.K.A. on the guitars, and Lethal on drums continues to pave a path of destruction with their only goal being “to spread the mighty words of our lord Lucifer.” I highly recommend a detailed listen at both their 2019 EP and their 2022 album, as both are ass-kicking beasts of blackened thrash, as you can easily see in this incendiary live version of Le Diamant de Lucifer.

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However, don’t think that Jamie is simply blasting the heaviest of sounds all the time with her bass, or that she only loves heavy music, as she has also been part of a very interesting Coldwave project called Letten 94 since 2019, going by the name of Dolorès in this case. “Letten 94 is a project we created with a friend, Freddy Van Ballast. I’m on vocals, bass and soon guitar and he plays synthesizers, samplers, drum machines etc.,” commented Jamie. This Swiss Coldwave duo takes a mental image of Letten (as the disused Letten station in Zurich was the largest open drugs scene in Europe in 1994), and more widely of Europe in the aftermath of the fall of the Berlin Wall, as a starting point to try to create electronic music which is sometimes aggressive and syncopated, sometimes dark and mysterious.

Letten 94 is a band that plays music for its own sake, carrying no political message, therefore having a zero-tolerance policy for racism and discrimination, such as discrimination based on gender, ability, or age. This includes all political ideologies that are extremist, totalitarian and/or oppose fundamental human rights, democracy, and the rule of law. Hence, you can enjoy Letten 94’s music in their official video for Empty Landscapes, listen to their other songs on Spotify, or click HERE for all things Letten 94. She was also involved with a French Black Metal horde named Myrkvid, playing bass with the band between 2019 and 2020, although she didn’t record anything with them. “The vocalist and guitarist, Myrk, is a friend of mine since a long time ago and he needed a new bass player. I played with them for a year but I decided to leave the band,” she commented, and you can also find her as the bassist for a band named Trauma, again with very few information about her involvement with the band available online, including zero details on when she started playing with them, or if she’s still with them.

As you might have noticed, Jamie has a lot of different influences in music. “At the very beginning of my teenage years I started with Thrash and Speed, and then I discovered Extreme Metal around 14 years old. I’m mostly on Black/Thrash, Black, some old school Death Metal sometimes and some Heavy/Speed but besides Metal I’m a fan of coldwave and post-punk music and it’s also a part of my inspirations. Jazz music too.” Moreover, when asked to list her top five albums of all time, she said that it’s tough to mention only five albums because she loves a lot more than that, but she would try to list some that struck her. Those albums are Blood Fire Death, by Bathory, Envoy of Lucifer, bu Nifelheim; Sister, by In Solitude; Black Metal, by Venom; and Dawnrazor, by Fields of the Nephilim.

In addition, she mentioned a very interesting list of newer bands she enjoys, including Division Speed, Hällas, Flagellant, Whoredom Rife, Blaze of Perdition, Denouncement Pyre, Drab Majesty, Lebanon Hanover, Condor, Hellripper, Antichrist, In Solitude, Saqra’s Cult, Tryptikon, Tragediens Trone, Riot City, Ultra Silvam, Beastmilk, Heresi, Tribulation, Matterhorn, Satan Satyrs, Vulture, Quintessenz, Whiskey Ritual, Warmoon Lord, Midnight and Nocturnal Graves, also saying that live she really enjoys to see Aura Noir, Satan Satyrs, Venom and Midnight. When asked about new or mainstream metal, she said she doesn’t like those labels, as she believes what really matters is to play with (and for) passion before anything else. “When this is the case, everyone who plays with his guts and works hard deserves his success.” And guess what’s the definition of true metal music for Jamie? “You feel it or not!”

Jamie Lee Cussigh’s Official Facebook page
Jamie Lee Cussigh’s Official Instagram
Triumph of Death’s Official Facebook page
Triumph of Death’s Official Instagram
Triumph of Death’s Official YouTube channel
Sacrifizer’s Official Facebook page
Sacrifizer’s Official Instagram
Sacrifizer’s Official YouTube channel

Album Review – Midnight / Hellish Expectations (2024)

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Filthy, belligerent and obnoxious, the new opus by this american lone wolf offers the listener 25 minutes of blasphemy and depravity that live up to the legacy of Black, Thrash and Speed Metal.

Slaying the metal and punk underground with its own highly addictive brand of lust, filth and sleaze dating back to the band’s inception in 2003, Cleveland, Ohio-based Black/Speed Metal one-man cult Midnight, the brainchild of vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Athenar (aka Jamie Walters), is back with its sixth full-length offering, titled Hellish Expectations, following up on the critically acclaimed album Let There Be Witchery, released in 2022. Filthy, belligerent and obnoxious, Hellish Expectations offers the listener 25 minutes of blasphemy and depravity split into ten infuriated, austere compositions that live up to the legacy of Black, Thrash and Speed Metal, setting fire to the underground scene while Athenar continues to worship Satan armed with his always irreligious and impure sounds.

Get ready to be crushed like an insect by the Punk Rock-infused Speed Metal by Midnight in Expect Total Hell, with Athenar delivering classic 80’s raspy vocals and electrifying riffs nonstop, followed by Gash Scrape, another harsh and visceral creation by Midnight that will surely ignite some fun mosh pits, with Athenar kicking some ass on drums while he keeps roaring and vociferating like a maniac for our total delight. Masked and Deadly keeps the album at a high level of animosity, although not as dynamic as the previous songs; whereas in Slave to the Blade we face a Motörhead-inspired sound that will drag us all into the pit while Athenar sounds ruthless on the guitars and bass, delivering striking riffs and rumbling bass lines throughout the entire song. And let’s keep banging our heads and raising our horns to that sweet trademark depravity from the 80’s in Dungeon Lust, with Athenar once again taking us back in time with his dirty guitars and inebriate vocals.

It’s pedal to the metal as Athenar and his Midnight will attack our senses in Nuclear Savior, again showcasing an amazing fusion of Hardcore and Punk Rock with Blackened Speed Metal, all spiced up by a thrilling guitar solo, and he continues his descent into the pits of hell with the blasphemous and frantic Deliver Us to Devil, with his Speed Metal riffage adding an extra touch of dementia to the overall result, resulting in what’s undoubtedly one of the best songs of the album. Then investing in a heavier headbanging sound, let’s break our necks to the raging Mercyless Slaughtor, where his Black Metal vein pulses stronger than ever; and once again inspired by the dirty Rock N’ Roll blasted by the iconic Lemmy and his crew we have Doom Death Desire, excellent for some beer drinking while Athenar hammers his drums in the name of evil, while F.O.A.L. offers one last explosion of raw, rebellious sounds by our multi-talented lone wolf, with its Speed Metal riffs walking hand in hand with the massive Punk Rock drums.

“It’s a knuckle dragger with a fat cutoff. Pure testosterone meat. Probably the most concise and straight to the point Midnight album to date, and all written in a weekend.  The album was written on pure reaction upon leaving the studio after listening to raw tracks from the previous album Let There Be Witchery.  The final mix of that album was good, but at the time of laying it down in the studio, I didn’t like what I was hearing and demanded a new leviathan of an album to be written that weekend,” commented the unstoppable Athenar about Hellish Expectations, which is by the way available from Midnight’s own BandCamp page or from the Metal Blade Records webstore, and don’t forget to also start following the band on Facebook and on Instagram (because Midnight might be a one-man band in the studio, but Athenar surely summons some wicked musicians to join him on stage for some depraved concerts), and to stream his sick creations on Spotify and on all other streaming services. It’s always midnight in the land of Black and Speed Metal, and I’m sure you’re more than ready to raise your horns nonstop in the name of sheer blasphemy to the sound of this precious gem of the underground.

Best moments of the album: Slave to the Blade, Nuclear Savior and Deliver Us to Devil.

Worst moments of the album: Masked and Deadly.

Released in 2024 Metal Blade Records

Track listing
1. Expect Total Hell 3:29
2. Gash Scrape 2:18
3. Masked and Deadly 2:50
4. Slave to the Blade 1:51
5. Dungeon Lust 2:13
6. Nuclear Savior 2:38
7. Deliver Us to Devil 2:23
8. Mercyless Slaughtor 2:45
9. Doom Death Desire 2:16
10. F.O.A.L. 2:48

Band members
Athenar – vocals, all instruments

Album Review – Hellfuck / Diabolic Slaughter (2022)

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A horde of seasoned musicians from Poland brings pure sulfur and blasphemy to us all throughout the 32 minutes of Blackened Thrash and Speed Metal from their new album.

It looks like the more religious and conservative a country becomes, the better its Extreme Metal scene is, and when the country in question is Poland that becomes even more noticeable as some of the best metal acts to arise from the country are in the extreme music landscape such as Behemoth, Ragehammer, Embrional, Kult Mogił, and so on. That couldn’t have been any different with Blackened Thrash/Speed Metal horde Hellfuck, and if the name of the band is not enough to attract your attention maybe you’ll enjoy the name of their new opus, Diabolic Slaughter. Recorded at Panzer Studio, mixed and mastered by Haldor Grunberg at Satanic Audio, and displaying a sick cover artwork and layout design by Maciej Kamuda Art, Diabolic Slaughter is a beast of an album carefully brought into being by vocalist and guitarist Skullripper, guitarist Nelek, bassist Armagog and drummer Darek Mlody, all seasoned musicians from bands the likes of Embrional, Azarath, Stillborn, F.A.M. and Squash Bowels, bringing pure sulfur and blasphemy to our demented minds throughout the album’s 32 demolishing minutes.

Distorted, evil guitars ignite the opening tune Religious Scum, exploding into ass-kicking Thrash Metal spearheaded by the unfriendly, raspy vocals by Skullripper, consequently sounding absolutely perfect for slamming into the circle pit like a true metalmaniac. Darek continues to hammer his drums in great fashion in War Obsession accompanied by the razor-edged riffage by Skullripper and Nelek, as if Municipal Waste made a deal with the devil in the name of Black Metal; whereas Reigning in Hell is infernal, frantic and demented just the way we like it, with Armagog and Darek generating a reverberating atmosphere perfect for Skullripper to fire his demonic screams in a lecture in Blackened Thrash Metal by the band. The quartet keeps the momentum going with Angel’s Disgrace, another brutal fusion of Black and Speed Metal showcasing a fantastic riff work by the band’s guitar duo, and get ready to be pulverized by this Polish horde in God in Flames, even more demonic and breathtaking than the previous songs, where Darek once again dictates the pace with his hellish drums.

Living up to the legacy of the most demolishing form of Thrash Metal, it’s time for Time to Suicide, with the riffage by Skullripper and Nelek walking hand in hand with the massive beats by Darek; and the incendiary riffs and solos by Skullripper and Nelek keep piercing our ears in Church – Pigsty of Nations, with Armagog and Darek once again shaking the foundations of the earth with their Black Metal-inspired kitchen. Then arising from the very depths of the underworld the band offers us all H.M.S.T.O.P.S (or “Holy Mary, Suck The Prick Of Satan”), a no shenanigans sonic onslaught by Hellfuck that keeps the album at an insane level of animosity and rage, with Darek crushing our damned souls with his unstoppable beats. Their second to last blast of insanity, blasphemy and darkness comes in the form of The Vampiric Oath, with Skullripper gnarling rabidly supported by his devilish bandmates, not to mention its headbanging riffs are absolutely awesome; whereas last but not least, the quartet incorporates an extra dosage of the rebelliousness of bands like Toxic Holocaust, Exodus and Obituary into their core sonority, resulting in a thrashing creature entitled Despise the Priest to properly conclude the album.

As already mentioned, Poland is the place to be if you’re a diehard fan of the most extreme, blasphemous and ruthless forms of heavy music, and the guys from Hellfuck are making sure the fires of Polish metal keep burning bright anywhere they go to the sound of their awesome new album. Hence, don’t forget to start following those headbanging bastards from Poland on Facebook for news, tour dates and more of their wicked music, and to grab your copy of the incendiary Diabolic Slaughter from the Godz ov War Productions’ BandCamp page, adding an extra dosage of profanity to your already devilish collection and, as a consequence, making sure there’s absolutely no peace for your religious neighbors.

Best moments of the album: Religious Scum, Reigning in Hell and Church – Pigsty of Nations.

Worst moments of the album: None.

Released in 2022 Godz ov War Productions

Track listing
1. Religious Scum 3:29
2. War Obsession 3:18
3. Reigning in Hell 2:43
4. Angel’s Disgrace 3:23
5. God in Flames 3:36
6. Time to Suicide 3:33
7. Church – Pigsty of Nations 2:23
8. H.M.S.T.O.P.S 3:36
9. The Vampiric Oath 2:49
10. Despise the Priest 3:13

Band members
Skullripper – vocals, guitar
Nelek – guitar
Armagog – bass
Darek Mlody – drums