AORYST
“Relics Of Time”
Album Review by Iron Mathew

9.5/10

AORYST are a thrash metal band from Germany formed in 2022 releasing the bands debut album ‘Relics Of Time’ in 2024…

…consisting of eight fast paced and aggressive songs over forty four furious minutes! German thrash has always been savage, the legendary Teutonic Four – Kreator, Sodom, Destruction and Tankard – setting the benchmark for savagery over forty years ago – AORYST aiming to live up to that legacy! And with their debut album featuring elements of death alongside the bands thrash metal roots, all signs are looking good, ‘Deterministic Chaos’ getting the album underway with a typical thrash metal thunderstorm – pace, power and aggression rising high in the air! The band are at full throttle here, oozing a rough, tough and gruff nature as ‘Deterministic Chaos’ roars loud enough to wake the dead! Err, I meant to say mosh pit – roars loud enough to wake up every single mosh pit around the world! Moving to a more mid tempo plane, ‘Call Of The Void’ soon returns the blistering pace of the album opener, AORYST continuing to bludgeon listeners with a weighty barrage of savage thrash!

And after such a breathless opening brace, an aura of mellowness covers the album like a blanket covers a bed, the guitar led first forty seconds to ‘ETNO’ very calm and tranquil – and then bish, bash, bosh AORYST let all hell break fucking loose! Accelerating quickly, ‘ETNO’ scorches the earth as it hurtles across the land to leave only destruction in its wake! The band are in devastating form, nothing and no-one is safe from the bands all conquering thrash metal assault – an assault that forges on with increased menace courtesy of the more mid tempo ‘Hybrid Forms’. For just the first twenty seconds or so, and then ‘Hybrid Forms’ is storming down the autobahn at full speed, AORYST taking no prisoners as they batter outta the way everything in sight! And I mean everything, so if you don’t wanna become a victim of the thrash metal tsunami unfolding right in front of your eyes – and ears – run for cover now! Unless you’re a diehard thrasher, standing tall screaming at the band “is that all you’ve got” – the German outfit replying with increased ferocity, ‘Extractor Of Death’ striding in to rip your fucking face off with a searing amount of brutality! You gotta be careful what you wish for, ’cause sometimes wishes do come true!

And if your wish was for an aggression fuelled thrash metal album – AORYST just granted it! ‘Relics Of Time’ is turning in one hell of an explosive performance with incendiary devices going off left, right and fucking centre – ‘Exogenesis’ a three and three quarter minute instrumental that brings a more traditional metal feel to the album! Stretching their musical boundaries, the band step over the thrash metal border wall to entice metallers into their thrasher populated soundscape – a soundscape that quickly returns to blistering thrash metal as ‘Oceans Below’ sets sail with all the urgency and intent of an armada heading off to war! The band are very much standing tall and proud in the heart of thrash metal territory here, ‘Oceans Below’ a blunt and in your face rampage that’s gonna slam listeners to the floor with an immense amount of force! And then trample all over them just for good measure, ‘Relics Of Time’ entering its final furlong with the fastest song on offer – ‘Anoxia’ racing forth at a hundred fucking miles an hour, AORYST testing the necks of every single head banger one last time! And if you’ve not been vigorously rocking your head back and forth since the album began – are you really a fan of thrash metal? For ‘Relics Of Time’ deserves to be head banged to – and head banged hard!

Overall, a fierce and ferocious romp of all out thrash metal savagery with top level intensity and a tonne of head bang ability.

TRACKLIST

Deterministic Chaos
Call Of The Void
ETNO
Hybrid Forms
Extractor Of Death
Exogenesis (instrumental)
Oceans Below
Anoxia

https://aoryst.bandcamp.com/

This review is the property of Iron Mathew, Frenzy Fire, The Metallist PR, and Metal Gods TV. It is strictly prohibited to copy any part of this review, unless you have both of the parties’ permission, or are the band/record label/PR company in question. Failure to adhere to these instructions will be considered as Plagiarism and you will be reported to the appropriate authorities

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