With cover art that looks like Skeletor having 'Nam flashbacks, you might be inclined to assume that Fastkill – relentlessly old school, unapologetically cheesy – hail from Germany, land of bullet belts and unintentionally awkward war imagery. Actually, they're from… Japan, which might make the tanks and other various weaponry on the band's album covers similarly questionable, except that this quintet is really just aping the Cold War-era themes that were on the American groups' minds back in the 80's, when this style of strep throat thrash was at its apex (same as the Germans, really).
There's a bit of the Teutonic gremlin influence in singer Toshio Komori's voice, but it's taken to a much more shrill, near-black metal pitch than you usually see in German thrash. Actually, Exciter's Dan Beehler would be a more appropriate comparison, with Komori having way too much fun to veer all that close to 80's proto-BM such as Venom or Bathory.
If the album cover didn't tip you off – beer being equally as valid a sidearm as a missile launcher – Fastkill are all about the party thrash. Song titles such as "In Thrash We Trust" and "Toxic Tormentor" tip one off immediately that this Japanese quintet is not trying to politically mobilize anyone… and what the fuck is a "Guillotine Attack" anyway? Basically this is 31 minutes of sloppy, energetic Friday night drinking metal; quaff hard, you bastards! You want to live forever?
Bestial Thrashing Bulldozer came out in Japan back around Christmas but is just now getting a US release through Pulverised.
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