Scimitar – ‘Demo’

This debut demo by this new young Belfast thrash band is an impressive statement of intent from such an inexperienced outfit.

Fittingly featuring a militaristic drum beat at the start, opener ‘The Act Of War’ is reminiscent of a faster, looser young Megadeth, especially in the rhythm patterns and vocals, although vocalist Jonny Gray doesn’t quite have that Mustaine snarl, and John Thompson’s guitars are well mixed and remind you at first listen of Gary Holt’s early work.

The boys are very obviously fans of classic thrash, especially Megadeth, Exodus, Forbidden and Overkill, as well as the likes of Municipal Waste:  yes, it’s a bit derivative in places – and maybe one of the lads would care to explain what in the name of metal is going on with the totally needless and excessive ‘secret track’ appended to the end of the otherwise excellent ‘Behead The Beast’ – and the mixing is a bit ropey at times (especially on the bass and vocals), but they do have some really good riffs – e.g. Hellfire – and the songwriting shows a lot of youthful promise.

All in all, enough to earn 7/10.

• To find out more about Scimitar, visit http://www.facebook.com/scimitar666