A good thrash record should serve up a lot of different things to you while your brain is being ground into a paste. As noted too many times, having cut my teeth on thrash, I’m terribly particular about this style, and I don’t think the subgenre has grown well. But there still are a lot of bands doing it right, and Bloodletter is one of them.

As I said, thrash records often spray you with songs about various topics, most of them grim, many times horror based. “Leave the Light Behind,” the Chicago-based band’s fourth band, jumps out of the gates immediately lamenting the rotting state of the world and visiting fantasy elements, pestilence, mental issues, and nightmares among other things. The band—vocalist/guitarist Pete Carparelli, guitarist Pat Armamentos, bassist Tanner Hudson—delivers the goods over and over on 10 tracks and 35 minutes, reminding of the power and ferocity of thrash metal when it’s goddamn done right.

“A World Unmade” opens as a total assault, punchy and screamy, feeling a lot like Kreator, which it does throughout. Which certainly isn’t a bad thing. “The is the ruin of our making,” Carparelli howls, a lava-rich solo overflowing, mashing to the end. “On Blackened Wings” is urgent and furious, melodic leads ripping, an attack rising that threatens your well-being. Howls stretch as the colors burst, guitars adding more drama to the end. “Eternal Winter” has guitars flooding, the band leaning toward death, the drums blasting in areas. “The wind is its voice, the snow is its will,” Carparelli wails, adding a freezing menace to the song and the story, the guitars blurring and spreading out the madness. “Terminal” brings creaky howls, jarring melodies, and  Carparelli calling, “Trapped inside a prison of my mind.” The track gets more morbid, digging into mental wounds, burying bones in the dirt. “Unearthing Darkness” is speedy as hell, the vocals spat, warnings of violence plowing through the verses. The chorus flexes as the soloing unloads, guitars glimmering and making you shield your eyes from the pressure.

“Hunting Horror” trudges through the weeds, the guitars bubbling, Carparelli screaming, “Blood red eyes glow in the night,” the playing pressing against veins. The words vow revenge as their teeth sink in, the shouts of, “Devour! Destroy!” bruising. “The Black Death” is a little too uncomfortable for our own good considering where we are in 2025, and it’s a punisher, Carparelli wailing, “Life is the debt, suffering is the payment.” The playing is fast and mashing, strong soloing tearing through the void and into bone. “Call of the Deep One” has tricky riffs and darkness spreading, monstrous growls squeezing with all their might, moody soloing melting away thickening ice. The playing is a full force as the vocals terrify, the back end plowing into damnation. “Night Terrors” brings nightmares to life, the playing growing in strength, Carparelli howling, “Each breath grows heavier, I may not last.” The power rumbles through the ground, the guitars galloping and ending in ashes. Closer “The Burial” opens with eerie keys, and then everything tears open, screams mashing, the playing smashing pavement. “Wishing I could wake from this hell,” Carparelli shouts, the playing continuing to splatter (guest Nate Madden’s soloing adding more electricity), the keys that greeted you luring you into a mesmerizing fog.

Bloodletter’s classic sound, smearing brutality, and mix of real-life and fantastical horrors makes for a high point on “Leave the Light Behind.” This is a real step up for a band that already was operating at a high level, but this album should really open up a lot of eyes, especially for those who have fallen asleep on thrash. It’s a bruiser from start to finish, and it’s one that’s easy to revisit over and over.

For more on the band, go here: https://bloodlettermetal.bandcamp.com/

To buy the album (U.S.), go here: https://wisebloodrecords.bandcamp.com/

Or here: https://wisebloodrecords.8merch.com/

For more on the label, go here: https://wisebloodrecords.com/