Bastard Skull — Bastard Skull Review
Bastard Skull, an American old-school thrash metal act — unleashed their Self-titled full-length debut on the February 7th, 2025. The album was released through WormHoleDeath Records, the album arrives like a war cry — raw, militant, and forged in the bunker.
Bastard Skull Review: This review will evaluate every aspect of the album, from its intricate musical composition to its production. Our analysis will provide valuable insights to help you determine if this album is worth adding to your collection.
The First Three Sins, The Summary
The Fourth Sin, Overall Discussion
Opening Invocation: The Hymn Begins
When the listener hits play, the first hymn, Bastard Skull, and the remaining seven hymns burst into life… This thirty-minute release hooks you right away. The riffs pull you into the band’s grim sound world. Think heavy, shadowy tones that set a fierce mood from the start. It’s sharp and to the point.
Bastard Skull feels rooted in the past, but it fits today’s ears. They recorded it raw. No fancy tricks. The vibe screams end times—harsh, full of fight, and free from any shine. This thrash hits like a tool for battle, not some shiny item for sale. The band grabs the raw power of a live gig. They skip digital polish or extra layers. It sounds like the players are right there in the room with you.
It’s as if you’re listening to old-school heavy metal and classic thrash from the ’80s — but with that rough East Coast edge.
Ritual Space & Recording Ethos
The band’s recording style screams do-it-yourself spirit fused with old analogue warmth. Picture them laying down tracks in a musty basement studio — dim lights, cold walls, no excess takes. The wild spark of their live shows remains intact. The air feels thick, like a gig in a solid concrete bunker. It builds a tight, pressing space — full of rage and a strange ritual energy, as if you’re part of some dark rite.
The hymns are built tight. Every part fits just right. No loose ends or mess. The speed never lets up. Most tracks push 180 to 220 beats per minute. Galloping beats drive it forward. Sudden shifts in pace hit hard, much like Slayer‘s early fury or the raw punch of first-era Metallica, punk-thrash wastelands of Toxic Holocaust and Demolition Hammer. It’s all crafted with a devilish skill that feels like pure art from the shadows.
The mix stays dry and tight. Narrow, like it’s closing in. Hostile to the core. No wide, open soundstage. This is a wall of noise that rams right at you.
Stringed Weapons: Guitar & Bass
John Blicharz handles the guitars. His tone is dry, packed with mid-range punch, and mean. No sleek modern gloss. Just straight distortion from tube amps, with barely any echo. He leans on palm-muted chugs for the base. They alternate with fast tremolo picks on open strings. Solos pop up short and wild — dive bombs, whammy bar tricks, and quick chromatic runs.
The overall guitar sound calls back to Show No Mercy by Slayer or the sharp attack of Evil Invaders, with an added touch of punk snarl, and it bites even harder.
George Kostadimas’s bass tone is thick, distorted, and often mirrors the guitars to amp up the force. Now and then, it breaks out with a grinding roll, like Lemmy from Motörhead. You hear it clear on “Catch Kill Release.” The bass doesn’t hide under the guitars. It fights right beside them, adding weight and threat.
The bass doesn’t sit beneath the guitars — it claws alongside them.
Percussion & Prophecy: Drums & Vocals
Mark Mari pounds the drums. His kit sounds high-pitched, bone-dry, and blasting. Each strike cracks like a shot. No soft touches or loose groove. The kick drums fire quick and steady, with a sharp click. Double-time gallops tear through, common in thrash style. They shine in “Time Is the Destroyer.” Cymbals stay simple—few crashes, but they cut through with that same clicking edge.
Tom Lorenzo’s vocals deliver barked, venomous, and rhythmically locked to the riffs. No smooth parts or tricks. Just straight yells with a punk rhythm and metal flow. The words circle dark themes: plagues that ravage, wars that tear apart, breaking idols, death’s cold grip, and pure disorder.
The guitars slice like jagged blades, the drums bark orders, and the vocals spit curses. All of it sits in a mix born from that bunker feel—alive, angry, venomous, and almost unholy in its grit.
Benediction of Ruin: Final Reflection
Overall, Bastard Skull’s debut is a feral, apocalyptic thrash invocation that channels the DNA of Slayer’s earliest assaults — Show No Mercy, Hell Awaits — without mimicry or nostalgia.
But where Slayer summoned demons, Bastard Skull conjures plague, iconoclasm, and death as ritual acts. Their sound is raw, militant, and venomous, closer in spirit to the scorched punk-thrash wastelands of Toxic Holocaust than to polished revivalists.
This is East Coast thrash as weaponry, not homage. A debut that doesn’t just nod to its ancestors — it exhumes them, reanimates them, and sends them screaming into the plague winds.
Closing Rite: Gratitude & Final Sins
As the final hymn fades, we offer ritual thanks to WormHoleDeath Records for granting us passage into Bastard Skull’s debut. The altar is set, the plague winds stir — now we unveil the last three sins to complete the rite.
The Fifth Sin, The Memorabilia
For me, Bastard Skull hits like a nuclear winter. I’ll admit — on first listen, I thought “Slayer.” But after a few plays, headphones on, it became clear: this isn’t Slayer. It’s thrash reborn from the shadows of nuclear fallout — as if a rusted war machine from the ’80s reactivated in the ruins.
Overall, the album is heavy, dry, and screams “bloody” old-school — a fusion of classic heavy metal, hardcore punk, and thrash metal, forged into a skull-shaped weapon of mass destruction — a true symphony of annihilation.
For those who crave apocalyptic thrash forged in the bunker — raw, venomous, and militant, this is for you. FFO: Slayer, Toxic Holocaust, early Metallica, Demolition Hammer, and Evil Invaders.
The Sixth Sin, The Artwork
This isn’t just cover art. It’s a visual hymn — a declaration of intent. Bastard Skull doesn’t ask for attention. It demands ritual submission. [designed by Luciferium War]
The Seventh Sin, Disrelish
There is nothing to fault in the musical offerings of Bastard Skull — each hymn strikes with precision, venom, and ritual fire. With that, we conclude our descent through sound and story. Thank you for walking the edge with us. We invite you to explore Bastard Skull and the cryptic vaults of WormHoleDeath Records.
The Hymns
01. Bastard Skull
02. After The Plague
03. Time Is the Destroyer
04. Beyond The Fay
05. Iconclast
06. The Last Death
07. Catch Kill Release
08. Chaos Order
Bastard Skull
John Blicharz — Guitars
Tom Lorenzo — Vocals
George Kostadimas — Bass
Mark Mari — Drums