MUTANT BLAST
“Soulsteeler”
Album Review by Iron Mathew

10/10

Mutant Blast are a thrash metal band from Finland formed in 2020 releasing their debut E.P. ‘Detonation’ in 2021 and debut album ‘Soulsteeler’ in 2024.

Blending classic thrash with elements of traditional heavy metal, the Finnish four-piece come storming outta Helsinki at a hundred miles an hour, the bands new album a ferocious forty minutes of pure head bang ability consisting a mix of older, re-arranged songs and newer ones – the album getting underway in fiercely heavy fashion with the menacing mid tempo march of ‘Satan’s Pawn’. The heaviness here is incredible, the band building a raucous crescendo before letting all hell break loose after a minute and a half, the surge of energy simply electrifying! If you’re a fan of thrashers such as Testament, Ravenous and Mason, you’re gonna quickly become fans of Mutant Blast too, ‘Soulsteeler’ marching on with the iconic “metal gallop” courtesy of ‘Alone In The Wasteland’. The meld of eighties sounding heavy metal with the aggression and speed of thrash is breath taking, ‘Alone In The Wasteland’ a gear changing heart pounding adrenalin pumping slab of exquisite thrash! A terrific opening brace soon becomes a fantastic treble as ‘Into The Night’ races on faster than the speed of light! The band are rocket fuelled here, speeding across thrash metal territory pushing everyone and everything out of their way – so be warned readers, the one place you don’t wanna be, is stood right in front of the Finnish thrash metal machine!

‘Cause if you are, you’re in for a right royal thumping, Mutant Blast taking no prisoners with a brutal barrage of savagery that’s gonna snap bones and crush skulls with effortless ease – ‘Black Mass (Open The Gates Of Hell)’ entering the fray with a touch of groove and a black album era Metallica flavour! The band keep the pedal firmly pressed to the metal, roaring down the highway faster than local speed limits allow – Mutant Blast giving every mosh pit in the world a reason to frantically head bang and form walls and circles of death! ‘Soulsteeler’ has been relentless since it began, the band not allowing anyone a breather from its all conquering intensity, ‘Final Day’ strolling into view with more menace than any other song heard so far – the band building to a ground shuddering thunder stomp! And the appearance of a more melodious feel too, Mutant Blast standing tall and very proud in the gap between thrash and traditional heavy metal – a gap that Canadian thrashers Annihilator have occupied for nigh on four decades! ‘Acid Rain’ resumes the blistering foot to the floor pace, the levels of aggression and head bang ability both shooting right through the roof, the band keeping a tight hold of everyone’s attentions!

Attentions that aren’t focused any where else right now, absolutely no-one thinking of stopping listening to ‘Soulsteeler’ – you’d have to be mad to! The band storm on with the gear changing tempo changing ‘Mind Control’, progressing from a menacing foot stomp to a thunder stomp and eventually blazing speed – the variation on offer here simply mind boggling! Methinks the band have thrown every style of thrash metal in their locker at listeners here, and as far as this listener is concerned, “keep it coming”! And keep it coming they do, ‘For The Sake Of Humanity’ sizzling with a tremendous melodic thrash metal vibe, a vibe that’ll have every thrasher and metaller on the entire planet dripping with delight! And to end their debut album, Mutant Blast deliver a cracking cover of an Iron Maiden classic – without thrashing it up! ‘Prowler’ (from ‘Maiden’s 1980 self titled debut album) is kept to the same pace as the original, the Finnish thrashers standing firmly and squarely in traditional heavy metal territory for this one – there really isn’t much more I can say about this other than it’s worth waiting the thirty six minutes to get here for!

Overall, a breathless barrage of brutal yet melodic, aggression fuelled thrash metal with an immense level of head bang ability.

TRACKLIST

Satan’s Pawn
Alone In The Wasteland
Into The Night
Black Mass (Open The Gates Of Hell)
Final Day
Acid Rain
Mind Control
For The Sake Of Humanity 
Prowler (Iron Maiden cover)

https://mutantblastband.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/mutantblastband

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