Knife has another amazing release with “Heaven Into Dust”. If you haven’t already heard of Knife, think old-school 80s Teutonic Thrash, with a little bit of blackened spice for your listening pleasure. For fans of Municipal Waste and Goatwhore, this will be right up your alley. Straight up fast, angry, punishing thrash with spikes and leather. This album will help you see why Knife is one of those bands that are on my auto-buy list.
Artist: Knife
Album: Heaven Into Dust
Label: Napalm Records
Released: August 25th, 2023
Location: Germany
Written by Thom Wells
Knife has another amazing release with “Heaven Into Dust”. If you haven’t already heard of Knife, think old-school 80s Teutonic Thrash, with a little bit of blackened spice for your listening pleasure. For those unfamiliar with Kreator, Sodom, Destruction, Tankard, and Sabbat this music is fast, a little punk, a little old school first wave black metal, with some pretty fun shredding going on. For fans of Municipal Waste and Goatwhore, this will be right up your alley. Straight up fast, angry, punishing thrash with spikes and leather.
“Hawks of Hades” (such a cool name) starts off with samples from a famous horror movie (I am no Nark) and then sets a blistering pace until the breakdown. I just love bands like Knife. I can’t get enough of them. Yes, they sound familiar and certainly tip their hats to the 80s but I think they have made the genre their own. There are far more technical solos, some British Invasion-style solos, and a shredded screamer who never gets boring. The next track “Night Vision” according to Knife’s YouTube channel, is influenced by the movie “The Silence of the Lambs”. The song is a real barn burner. Very old school but not low-budget sounding. I especially enjoy the solo in this song. The solo section reminds me of early Merciful Fate at times. “Heaven Into Dust” starts off as a circle pit favorite, and Knife never lets the pedal off the floor. Iron Scepter continues the pace with another speedy heavy riff-fest.
The next song “With Torches They March”. I would call it a mid-tempo thrash song similar to Metal Church. It’s fun, and it certainly would be great in a small club or a giant festival. I like it when bands vary their song tempos. I wouldn’t call this slow at all, but it’s more of an epic Heavy Metal song. “Black Oath and Spells” returns Knife to super fast riffing and some elements of progressive metal. It isn’t an abandonment from the other songs style-wise but again provides the listener with a little variation within this release.The last four songs “The Arson Alchemist”, “A Phantom Devised”, “Realm of Violence, and “No Gods in the Dark” are all awesome songs that complete the last half of the record.
I enjoyed Knife’s previous debut release, “Knife” and wondered if they could top that record. I thoroughly enjoyed both records, so I would say this is a slight improvement, but that is not a criticism. I am extremely pleased with this record and look forward to future releases. Knife is one of those bands that are on my auto-buy list. I am hoping they tour for this record in the U.S. and play in the Chicago region. I think they would be loved by the Reggie’s crowd.
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