Band:	Ghoul
Album:	Maniaxe
Style:	Death metal, Thrash metal
Release date:	June 24, 2003
Guest review by:	deadone

01. Pleasant Screams/Forbidden Crypts
02. Maggot Hatchery
03. Sewer Chewer
04. Ghoul Hunter
05. Numbskull
06. Boneless
07. Maniaxe
08. Mechanized Death
09. The End?
10. What a Wonderful World [Louis Armstrong cover]

So you like old school Thrash AND Carcass? And then you say you like to disembowel various poser Black Metallers? And you like horror, especially old school Horror ala that peddled by the infamous Hammer studio?

Well come right into the world of Ghoul's Maniaxe album.

The basic formula for the album is to take a lot of catchy old school Thrash Metal riffs and mix it with Death Metal's groove, vocal style and occasionally drums. The main vocals are straight out of the Jeff Walker school of growls. Like early Carcass, most of the rest of the band has a sing along too, in a variety of undecipherable stomach-churning growls.

The album is very much tongue in cheek and tells the tale of a bunch of ghouls living in a cemetery in Creepsylvania, very much a typical and impoverished Balkans country. Opposing the ghouls is their arch enemy, the Ghoul Hunter and his robot. The band also has a bit of fun at the expense of Black Metallers and the last song is a twisted version of "What A Wonderful World".

As can be expected the riffs are pure head-banging moshpit fun, especially the song "Numbskull," which is most definitely an anthem for anyone who likes moshy metal but doesn't take themselves too seriously.

The production is rough and that's a good thing as it takes you back to the glory days of old thrash and early Death Metal (think early Venom, Death and Obituary and, of course, Carcass).

With Death Metal becoming ever more complicated and challenging to listen to, Ghoul's Maniaxe offers a glimpse back to a simpler time when Death and Thrash metal focused on song writing and vibe as opposed to the mindless technicality and brutality.