As we are a quasi-pro wrestling site, I’ve been amused and annoyed lately at how many fans of that art style cannot seem to just have fun with things that are going on and stop being so judgmental. That applies to me, too, because I can’t get on board with a fake doll winking. That can spill over into heavy music as well where obsession over styles and presentation sometimes strips away the good times.

On that note, Nattmaran manage to combine great skills with a penchant for creating songs that make your blood boil, and it took members from three different countries in order to make this happen. The band’s debut full-length “The Lurking Evil” is arriving, and it’s as forceful as and a lot more fun than the hell thunderstorm currently blistering my house. The band’s members—vocalist Yogga Beges and guitarist/bassist Michael Lang, who also played in Unholy Tenebris, and drummer Koji Sawada, who was recruited by the duo—are spread out over Indonesia, Sweden, and Japan, but the way they make so much black thrash ’n roll racket, you’d think they were all in the same room, absolutely lighting up everything on front of them. It’s rowdy, raucous, and a tremendously good time, a record that makes it feel like dangerous forces are slashing at you, waiting to spill your blood.

“Beauty in Chaos” is a barn burner of a starter, ripping in with speed and power, smashing with punk-fueled mashing that gallops hard and right into “Runaway” that maintains that intensity and even manages to turn it up higher. The vocals shred as punches are absorbed on the chorus that is catchy is fuck. Chaotic and impossible to ignore, that track ends in a fiery crash. “Descending Through the Darkness” has guitars chugging as the storm cloud ignites, saturating the ground. Fiery vocals tear with mashing guitars, trampling in chaos as the animal bows out. “Imprisoned” basically is a riffs race when it starts as fiery, shrieky howls incinerate, the playing knocks loose teeth, and the power trudges, rubbing your face in the blood as everything ends in vicious fashion. “Die You Will” isn’t a warning, it’s a promise as melodic leads sweep you up, and then abrasion works to drive blood to the surface. Great soloing takes over and causes your adrenaline to rage, the shrieks peel flesh, and the back end burns off. “Die By My Bullets” is a punk thrash explosion as the band mashes hard and fast, and the simple chorus, where the title is violently recited, should put a dent in your chest. The track boils as the leads keep hammering, melting faces and spraying shrapnel along the way.

“Necromancy” is bustling and heavy, rampaging through with harsh vocals and guitars utterly scorching. Strange evil lurks within your bloodstream as the vocals slash, and the final blows leave you hurting all over. “Hellbound” charges and is purely relentless and rowdy with the vocals slashing through metal. Speedy and energetic, the track is one of those that’ll make you drive faster, so make sure the cops aren’t around. Bastards. Anyway, “Prey For Redemption” feels a little different, though it’s still volatile. This one delves into some NWOBHM lure, adding a cool blast of fire from the past, shredding your mental faculties, and suddenly heating up again as the back end absolutely melts. “There’s Nothing You Can See” unleashes riffs that have nothing but ill intent, insulting you and adding salt to your already weeping wounds. The growls are downright nasty, the guitars hit the gas pedal and never look back, and the final servings of thrash go down quite hard. “When the Night is Mine” ends things with an energetic gust, mangling riffs, and powerful vocals that squeeze the marrow from your bones. The band keeps adding new blasts, the terror thickens, and then everything fades out, taking your sanity with it.

Nattmaran had to find maniacs from all over the globe in order to make this madness work, and it does to ridiculous proportions on “The Lurking Evil.” There are shreds torn from every era of metal’s storied history on this thing, almost as if they’ve set up a stinking, beer-soaked shrine to the sounds that made us all what we are. If you can finish this record and not feel your blood screaming in your veins, perhaps heavy music has finally passed you by.

For more on the band, go here: https://www.facebook.com/nattmaran.metal

To buy the album, go here: https://nattmaranmetal.bandcamp.com/album/the-lurking-evil-2

For more on the label, go here: https://www.facebook.com/wisebloodrecs