Hirax - Faster than Death

Angry Metal Guy 40

When Hirax’s newest record dropped, I thought, “These guys are still around?” That’s not me being a dick. They haven’t released a new album since 2014. I suppose that’s on par with the band considering they’ve been on and off since 1984—this year’s Faster than Death only being their sixth full-length release. With vocalist Katon W. de Pena being the only remaining original member of the band, it appears that once a record is complete, that lineup leaves, and the wait begins for a new one to pen another release. The same can be said for Faster than Death. Not only do we see a new lineup to support de Pena but a dedicated roster for live events. This is a shame because I feel the success of 2014’s Immortal Legacy was due to the crew’s performances and songwriting abilities. Because, believe it or not, Immortal Legacy is one of the band’s strongest releases. But Faster than Death proves that once Hirax gets onto something, they revert to their past and mess it up.

Case in point, this new record returns to the band’s days of yore where you can’t tell if a release is an EP or LP. Unlike the thirty-eight-minute Immortal Legacy—which provided plenty of breathing room to explore a riff or idea—Faster than Death lives up to its name with a nearly twenty-two-minute runtime. Not that I’m quite in a place to discover if I can die in that time, but I do know that my morning coffee shits take longer than it takes to listen to this record. With songs one to two minutes in length, even Hirax’s traditional speed-meets-thrash-meets-borderline-hardcore style struggles to provide a memorable and meaningful track. They were better at it in the olde days with Raging Violence and Hate, Fear and Power,¹ but those who feel Hirax made a significant impact on the Bay Area scene are kidding themselves. That said, what they worked so hard for on Immortal Legacy is gone on Faster than Death.

Faster Than Death by HIRAX

“Drill into the Brain” kicks the album off with a standard Hirax thrash lick and de Pena’s classic cleaner vocal style that brings to mind the Anthraxes and Metal Churches of the scene. But it’s nothing more than a simple chorus and blistering solo in a one-minute expanse. So, naturally, I’m worried. Thankfully, there are some stellar tracks on Faster than Death, specifically “Drowned Bodies,” “Psychiatric Ward,” and “Revenant.” The first is a chugtastic piece with an Anthraxy riff and vocal performance. As the riff changes occur and the nifty blastbeats build the back half of the song back to Chugger Town, the band finds that raw intensity that makes their better songs so good. “Psychiatric Ward” is similar in approach but for all my disappointments with these shorter track lengths, it delivers the goods and brings some hefty shit to it’s mere minute-and-a-half runtime. “Revenant” is the longest track on the record and the most unique. Displaying some slick fretboard work and a sinister, eerie atmosphere, the track is the album’s pleasing black sheep—specifically when it ventures into Testament-like territories and the massive build to the end.

But that’s about all I can return to without getting annoyed. The opener flies by so fast that you can’t get a grip on what’s going on, “Armageddon” is forgettable, the title track is boring, and, while the closing “Worlds End” has its moments, the vocals feel uninspired and I’m already done with the album because of the closer’s predecessor. Why do you ask? Because it’s a re-recording of their 1985 classic, “Warlord’s Command.” The album is only nine tracks long. Did they really run out of ideas that require re-recording a song like “Warlord’s Command?” I have no idea but all it does here is disrupt the flow, cripple the closer—all for a heavier version of a track that few remember.²

Outside the handful of songs that I enjoy, the only redeeming quality of Faster than Death is that it’s short and dynamic as fook. If it were rawer, the master’s openness would make it feel like it came from the ’80s. But that feeling doesn’t last long because Faster than Death is pretty one-dimensional. While their older material and even Immortal Legacy displayed some original guitar, bass, and drum work, Faster than Death is centered predominately on chugging trash riffs. It works with some of the stronger tracks, but others become predictable and begin to blend. I wanted to like this new release because the previous one felt like a step in the right direction. But now we are pulled back down the rungs, and I’m too tired to climb the ladder again.

Rating: 2.0/5.0
DR: 9 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Armageddon Label | Bandcamp
Websites: hirax.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/hiraxthrashmetal
Releases Worldwide: February 28th, 2025

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