Artist: Maze Of Torment 
   Title: Hidden Cruelty
   Label: Black Lodge

After a number of albums with different labels Thrash Metallers Maze of Torment hooked up with Sweden’s Black Lodge records in 2004 and the band seemed content with the labels attitude and focus on their bands, that this alliance has reaped benefits for the band as firstly the bands 'Hammers of Mayhem' album was finally released and the label also set out reissuing the bands 'The Unmarked Graves' album, and even the bands debut 'The Force' saw the light of day once more.

The band now return in 2007 with their strongest release to date ‘Hidden Cruelty’, this is heads down Thrash at its most intense, but still passable listening to the layman or anyone not at all into the whole speed driven guitar thing, Maze of Torment are seen as the new Messiahs of the Thrash genre, by bringing the whole scene kicking and screaming into the now and throwing away the shackles of the likes of Slayer and Testament and making the genre their own.

The album opens up with ‘Breach The Wall’ and immediately you're drawn into the riff spewn metal assault that is Maze Of Torment.  With the forceful vocals of Erik Sahlstrom leading the way, backed by the fret burning guitars of Magnus Lindvall and Rickard Dahlin, and the relentless pounding rhythm section of Cloffe Caspersson on bass and Kjell Enblom on drums.

The album never gives up its raging torrent of screaming guitars from the off, with the towering solos on ‘This Vision’ only being out done by the thunderous drums of Caspersson.  Other tracks of note are the heady tones of ‘A Few More Bullets’ a real bass driven metal assault, the speedfest that is the title track ‘Hidden Cruelty’ and the headbangers delight that is ‘Death Inhaled’.  These are just a few of the Thrash monsters on this 6^th and most accessible release to date. 

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