Pittsburgh’s Vicious Blade play thrash like a race car driver with a death wish. Their souped-up songs all rumble by in three minutes or less, steroid-boosted Discharge riffs and Show No Mercy-style solos flying wildly in all directions, threatening to spiral out of control. The band never do lose control, though, and their self-titled 2020 EP was a highlight of the latest wave of crusty thrash revivalists. Later this month, Vicious Blade will return with its follow-up: another five-song dose of ripping insanity called Siege of Cruelty.
Everything hits harder this time around. Frontwoman Clarissa Badini (also of death metal pugilists Castrator) has honed her instrument into a weapon of throat-shredding destruction. Lead guitarist Jeff Ellsworth (who also played on Don Caballero’s game-changing World Class Listening Problem) shreds like eyeshadow-era Kerry King, with more of a sense of melodic sophistication. Siege of Cruelty feels like a pronounced step up for a band who already kicked a considerable amount of ass. Decibel has the exclusive first taste of the EP in the form of Steve Turselli’s video for the title track, “Siege of Cruelty.” Watch the evil, red-drenched video and read a brief statement about it from Jeff Ellsworth below.
“We got together with director Steve Turselli and producer Aaron Streiner to bring to life the concepts we had. We wanted to capture the band’s imagery and stay true, old, old-school metal. They used flaming swords, skulls and red lighting to make it look like we were playing in hell.”
Stay tuned for the vinyl release via Pittsburgh’s own Our Ancient Future label. “No pre-orders because fuck that pre-order bullshit,” in their words.
