Band:	Infernäl Mäjesty
Album:	None Shall Defy
Style:	Thrash metal
Release date:	1987
Guest review by:	Guib

01. Overlord
02. R.I.P
03. Night Of The Living Dead
04. S.O.S.
05. None Shall Defy
06. Skeletons In The Closet
07. Anthology Of Death
08. Path Of The Psyco
09. Into The Unknown [bonus]
10. Hell On Earth [bonus]

I don't know if you guys are aware, but in the '80s there were two things that sucked about being Canadian. First, it's the cold, the damned cold. Needless to say that this still applies today... Second, you don't take much credit for releasing a thrash metal classic. You don't believe me? Ask Razor or Slaughter but mostly Infernäl Mäjesty! This last one released what is probably one of my favorite Canadian thrash metal albums of all time. Yes, I'm talking about None Shall Defy. For reasons that are beyond me, this jewel managed to remain buried in the abyss from where it was once summoned. So without further ado, let me dig it up for you.

The album was recorded in 1987 in the ex-Triumph Gil Moore's studio in Toronto (Metalworks Studio). Even though that studio would come to be one of the best recording studios in Canada, that didn't help None Shall Defy to rise above the fierce US competition. Lyrically, most of it was written by Psycopath and the themes are what you would expect from thrash in the 80's: occult rituals, satanic creatures, flesh-eating undeads and war. Nothing too original, but well-delivered by Chris Bailey's creepy/croaky vocals.

The album kicks off with "Overlord," which is a forceful start and definitely one of the album's highlights, with its neat guitar work featured in the intro. Though the lengthy seven-minute-and-20-second "Night Of The Living Dead" is without a doubt my favorite track, its gloomy, doomy, riffs are well-sewn together and the lyrics are totally what you would desire from a song named "Night Of The Living Dead." "Skeletons In The Closet" (which is, by the way, nothing like the Anthrax one) would also qualify as a worthy highlight, especially because of Hallman's performance on the three solos (yes, three solos within three minutes and 51 seconds). All in all, both he and Steve ''Terror'' are doing a pretty good job on the guitars, with fast-paced evil riffs and a multitude of solos raining down on you.

The album's closure is a funny yet disturbing slow track where you can hear whispers that ask ''Satan to lead us into hell'' before fading out. Of course, the 1996 re-release of the album added two bonus tracks, ''Into The Unknown'' and ''Hell On Earth,'' which are a bit out of place if you ask me, considering the obvious change in Chris's vocals (which seems to have become clearer). It feels as though they break the homogeneity of the whole work. Nonetheless I believe they are worthwhile additions to be listened to separately from the former tracks.

Overall, the album is amazing, you won't find a single bad track on there. You simply can't go wrong with it. If you like old-school crushing thrash metal... Infernäl Mäjesty can surely provide and their None Shall Defy is an absolute classic in that regard.