Cremate — Ready To Fight Review
Cremate, a Greek Thrash Death band, released their ferocious four-track EP, Ready to Fight, on 7th November 2025 through WormHoleDeath Records.
Cremate, Ready to Fight 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: Chaos Unleashed
When the listener hits play, the opening hymn, Die As You Lived, greets them with an audio sound clip that builds tension. It sets the stage for the storm ahead. Then raw instruments and vocals explode — hitting like an atomic thunderstorm. The sound grabs you. It pulls you into the chaos.
Evolution of Sound: Roots Reforged
Ready To Fight runs twenty-three minutes, spread across four hymns. These hymns build on the band’s early demo, End of Time (1993). That demo shaped their cult status in the underground scene. This EP takes death metal and thrash metal from back then. It adds a fresh twist. Dark synths join in. Samples add layers. Atmospheric textures build depth. Yet, the raw aggression stays sharp. No edge gets lost.
Developed over nearly three years, the record is both a nod to the band’s roots and a statement of evolution. Three classic tracks have been reshaped with new energy, while the brand-new title (closing) track delivers a fierce and emotionally charged anthem, featuring a blistering solo from Marios Iliopoulos (Nightrage). Lusty Apricot’s violin on Die as You Lived adds a haunting, cinematic layer to the brutality. The result is a unique blend of old-school ferocity and modern atmosphere heavy, uncompromising, and difficult to categorize. [Cremate]
Themes of Defiance and Struggle
Cremate’s Ready to Fight EP centres on resistance, with themes that drive the message home. Defiance and struggle mark the core. The title hymn Ready To Fight calls out ignorance. It fights oppression. Listeners feel urged to stand firm. Strength rises without praise for violence. Mortality and the human state fill other hymns. Die As You Lived, and Human face life’s end. They probe weakness. Dark human traits emerge clear. Mental pain takes shape in Cerebral Pain. It digs into mind torment. Inner wars rage. Suffering bites deep. Myths add tone. Lyrics use ritual words. They sound like old ceremonies. This links to the band’s 1990s underground days. Fans from then will nod in recall.
Recording and Production: Polished Yet Raw
Ready to Fight is delivered by this solid devilmanship — tight, punchy instrumental score and arrangement. Captured in a recording that sounds polished, yet retains a raw, biting edge with underground energy. As mentioned, Ready to Fight reimagines three older Cremate songs with updated recording techniques, giving them sharper edges while retaining their raw aggression.
The recording captures the band’s early compositions with modern clarity, closing the circle between their 1993 demo days and their 2025 rebirth.
Vocals and Instrumentation: Ritualistic Ferocity
Chris C. delivers the main vocals with harsh snarls, shouts — deliberately abrasive, more ritualistic chant than melodic singing. There is a minimal processing tone, keeping the raw, live‑ritual feel intact. Akis Pastras’ lead guitar twists wild, with chaotic solos and sharp tremolo runs, deliberately unpolished to preserve underground grit. While his rhythm guitar lays the foundation with its jagged thrash riffs, serrated mid‑tempo gallops, forming the backbone of each track.
Cremate’s guitar work is sharpened by Marios Iliopoulos (Nightrage), who delivers three blistering solos on the title track Ready to Fight, injecting both technical precision and melodic firepower.
Chris C.’s bass riffs feel more like a grinding undertone rather than a melodic voice. The tone is thick, oppressive, fog‑like weight that reinforces atmosphere. Thrash-driven percussion and drums — blast beats, relentless double‑time rhythms, galloping thrash patterns. There is a drum production of aggression emphasized over precision, creating collapsing, suffocating momentum from The Goat.
Atmosphere and Sonic Depth
While aggression rules with Ready to Fight, there are subtle industrial hits, ritualistic noises, and atmospheric cues that expand the sonic palette. Synth drones low, eerie pads haunt, and dark ambient textures are woven beneath the riffs. As mentioned before, Lusty Apricot’s violin on Die as You Lived adds a haunting, cinematic layer to the brutality.
These add depth and cinematic darkness without softening aggression — the synths and samples intensify the hostile mood rather than dilute it. The effect is a layered soundscape where thrash/death ferocity collides with atmospheric dread.
Final Verdict: A Fierce Rebirth
Overall, Ready to Fight is a fruit of art — transcending thrash or death revival. Raw force meets dark air. Riffs and snarls balance synth layers. The EP demands attention. It fits no box. Listeners face a sound that bites and haunts. For old fans, it revives memories. New ears find a fresh beast. The band’s path from demo tape to this rebirth shows grit. Three years of work paid off. Each track layers sound smart. Vocals chant truth, guitars carve pain, and drums crush doubt. Themes hit home on fight and fall. This EP roars loud in 2025 metal.
Closing Hymn: Into Darkness
The album closes with the title hymn Ready To Fight, its final notes fading into darkness. As the sound dissolves, the listener is left in reflection — the storm has passed, but its scars remain. This conclusion is not silence, but a ritual pause, a moment to weigh the sins revealed.
The Fifth Sin, The Memorabilia
For me, Ready To Fight by Cremate stands as bold, heavy, and atmospheric. What grips me most is the balance: clean production and clarity of sound, yet always cloaked in the smoke of old‑school aggression. The riffs bite, the drums hit hard, the vocals snarl — together they summon a force that feels both ancient and reborn.
The Sixth Sin, The Artwork
The artwork mirrors the lyrical themes, binding image to sound. It captures the EP’s essence — resistance, mortality, and struggle — in visual form.
The Seventh Sin, Disrelish
There is little to disrelish in Ready To Fight. Its offerings are uncompromising, its execution sharp. The EP delivers what it promises: ferocity, atmosphere, and ritual defiance. I extend gratitude for your time in reading this rite, and encourage exploration of Cremate’s work through WormHoleDeath Records.
The Hymns
01. Die as You Lived
02. Human
03. Cerebral Pain
04. Ready to Fight
Cremate
Chris C. — Vocals, Bass
Akis Pastras — Guitars
The Goat — Drums
Marios Iliopoulos — Guest Guitar on Hymn Five
Lusty Apricot — Guest Violin on Hymn One