Band:	Wraith
Album:	Fueled By Fear
Style:	Blackened thrash metal
Release date:	June 2024

01. Asylum
02. Fueled By Fear
03. Horses And Hounds
04. Shame In Suffering
05. Code Red
06. Ice Cold Bitch
07. Warlord
08. Merchant Of Death
09. Heathen’s Touch
10. Hell’s Canyon
11. Vulture
12. Shattered Sorrow
13. Truth Decay
14. The Breaking Wheel

While our current world may be Fueled By Fear, Wraith are fueled by the power of sizzling hot thrash metal fun.

Ever since the days of Slayer and Venom, the fusion of blackened thrash metal has been one of the most satisfying marriages of extreme metal, combining the grim wickedness of black metal with the high-speed intensity of thrash metal. In comparison to recent bands like Bütcher and Hellripper, American band Wraith don't necessarily bring anything new that sets them apart from the crowd. But, with the engaging energy of Fueled By Fear, their fourth album in only six years, Wraith are clearly on a mission to take the blackened thrash metal scene by storm.

Backed by powerful raspy vocals and smashing percussion, Fueled By Fear is dominated by the seemingly endless collection of attention-grabbing guitar melodies. Every song delivers catchy, mean riffs in a punk style very reminiscient of Toxic Holocaust’s work such as in An Overdose Of Death.... The sinister guitar tone is extremely satisfying with crystal clear production, adding a deliciously evil taste to the wicked guitar-wizardry on display. Whether it's mid-tempo groove to bob your head along to or blistering guitar solos performed at light-speed, Wraith provide the perfect soundtrack for wild, neck-snapping enjoyment in the mosh-pit.

In total, Fueled By Fear is composed of 14 short tracks that clock in at a full runtime of 45 minutes. It's hard to pick clear highlight tracks on this album as almost all songs are equally enjoyable. I could mention the singalong choruses of “Code Red” and “Merchant Of Death”, the Motörhead-esque “Ice Cold Bitch”, the mid-song breakdown of “Truth Decay”, or even the instrumental intro track. But, if I had to choose, my favorite song here is probably “Heathen's Touch”.

Despite the immense amount of entertainment I've had listening to this album, there are some minor issues that could bother some listeners. For one, as mentioned before, the musical style here is in no way innovative. For another, each song follows a practically identical formula. And, as a result of these similar song structures and the fact that 45 minutes might be just a bit too long for speed metal of this kind, the album can seem somewhat repetitive after a while. For instance, while Toxic Holocaust’s aforementioned An Overdose Of Death... also had a repetitive song format throughout, the shorter total runtime of 36 minutes causes that album to flow more smoothly, making same-sounding songs not such a big deal. Thus, in Wraith’s case, they could choose to either shorten their songs even further or simply cut some songs entirely, which shouldn't be much loss to the overall quality.

But, to be fair, the fast-paced approach on each song is so addictive that I almost didn't notice the repetitive nature on my first listen. The songs fly by as chugging riffs and blistering guitar solos blend together into a roaring torrent of rapid-fire aggression that is simply too catchy to resist.

In conclusion, Wraith’s newest album takes listeners on an exhilarating ride that should appeal to every fan of thrash. If their first three albums weren't enough proof, Fueled By Fear demonstrates that they have become masters of their niche, providing an album that may lack originality, but is nevertheless one of the most fun metal rollercoasters of this year.