Minotaur
God May Show You Mercy...We Will Not
6.2
Apparently unconvinced by the scads of fellow revival acts out there, three-piece German thrash outfit Minotaur have now delivered their second full-length effort, heavy on riffs and unsurprisingly short on mercy. Taking primary influence from fellow countrymen Kreator, tracks like “Soulless” and the energetic “It’s War” are enjoyable pieces of raw, catchy thrash that hook you in with their driving rhythms and well-placed tempo shifts, while “Rather Die” and “Damager” both usher in some memorable twin-guitar melodies and thunderous mid-song slowdowns. While all of the songs are pretty interchangeable and woefully unoriginal by today’s standards, Minotaur are capable of penning a quality guitar lick, and also seem to have a grasp of the dynamics needed to move thrash beyond a mere exercise in speed.
Unfortunately, Andreas Richwien’s high-pitched screeches sound strained and unaggressive, and quickly move from endearing to an awkward mix of comical and irritating by the second or third track. This, coupled with occasionally sloppy drumming and the flat-out boring riffwork in songs like “Princess of Hell” and “Cannonballfire” brings what could be a great modern thrash record down a few noticeable notches. Overall, Minotaur’s brand of grizzled, mosh-ready metal is definitely good for a headbang or two, but in the end I can't bring myself to overlook the things I don't like about this record enough to give God May Show You Mercy... my recommendation unless you are literally starved for new thrash bands. It's fun for what it is, but that's about it.
