BLACK FAST
SPECTRE OF RUIN

There isn’t a single clean passage, moody interlude, orchestral intro, or shoegazing break on BLACK FAST'S unapologetically destructive third album, "Spectre of Ruin." From start to finish, thrash metal fury is the business of BLACK FAST… and business is very good. The Midwestern quartet expertly constructs technical marathons of vintage thrash with modern sensibilities and hints of esoteric strangeness. BLACK FAST is a perfect soundtrack to mornings spent in gridlocked traffic and evenings spent demolishing a backyard party. The St. Louis thrash crew’s sophomore set, "Terms of Surrender", was rightly praised as “a meditation in calculated chaos” and “a barnburner with serious crossover appeal” by Pitchfork . Like metal tomb raiders, the tight-knit quartet excavates the missing link lost in the dimensional vortex that unites retro thrash with proto death metal, delivered with unrelenting momentum and clarity. The fire burning around the group is evident on YouTube: “I Conspire” has been viewed more than 300,000 times. Album opener “Cloak of Lies” sets the stage for Spectre of Ruin with a heaping helping of everything Black Fast represents, a
locomotive of riffs barreling down the tracks with determined speed and aggression. Songs like “Famine Angel,” “Scarecrow and Spectre” and “Phantom I Am” feature masterful solos that are tasteful ripping. BLACK FAST is on fire lyrically, as well. “Temple of Leviathan” takes a page from Joseph Campbell’s Monomyth, giving the “belly of the beast” allegory renewed vigor. As vocalist/guitarist Aaron Akin once said “We’ve pushed our chips all-in since the beginning. W threw caution to the wind. We’re playing metal. We don’t really give a shit about ‘making it.’” This music is a vibrant soundtrack to society’s collapse and a celebration of defiant resolution. The Black Fast mission is ruthlessly simple: champion musical aggression, bark at the moon, raise a fist, head bang like there’s no tomorrow.