MINOTAUR - God May Show You Mercy... We Will Not

Minotaur, I Hate Records

Release year: 2009

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I don’t think it would be possible to find a more old-school sound if you were to travel back in time to 1986! German Thrashers Minotaur formed all the way back in 1983 and were of the first wave of Thrash bands ever, releasing their first demo in 1986 and a full-length in 1988. Unfortunately, they never hit the big time and so since have been absent, but recently they decided to have another go and so their second full-length in twenty-six years is presented. As you’d expect from a band that is from Germany and plays Thrash, their sound on God May Show You Mercy... We Will Not is classic German Thrash, vocalist Andreas sounding rather like Destruction’s Schmier. It’s amazingly retro, with just one guitar (Andreas again) and a clearly audible bass forming the music with some unshowy drumming from Jörg Bock (also formerly of Torment).

Where God May Show You Mercy... fails is in the songwriting. Whilst the first few songs sound pretty good, by the time you’re halfway through it does start to sound rather like a poor version of Mad Butcher over and over again, and whilst I appreciate a bit of old-school German Thrash as much as the next guy, there’s clearly a reason that the band never made it. The riffs are adequate but not particularly gripping, the drums verge on dull and Andreas has so little variation in his voice that it’s hard to tell the songs apart. Clearly, this is enjoyable for what it is, but don’t expect anything other than a few friends getting together to play the music they love from their youth. The fact that the best song present is the bonus cover of W.A.S.P. ’s Animal (Fuck Like A Beast) speaks volumes.

Ultimately, this will appeal to a select audience indeed, mostly people who remember them from the eighties and are interested in seeing if they’re changed at all. Well, apart from a decent production, God May Show You Mercy... could be from that decade without any changes at all, and if that’s what you look for in your Thrash then you’ll love this.

Killing Songs : Animal (Fuck Like A Beast)