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God damn, it's tough to love an album that leaves so little to say about it. Jumalation started as the Pedro Anthares Group back in 1997 before changing names and eventually releasing The Church of Isaac in 2011, leaving us with a 12-year wait for their sophomore album. I originally gave Mjolnir the promo for this last year to try and avoid personal bias in my coverage, but fuck it, The Mouth of Moloch is too good for me to stay quiet about.

Musically, this is just old-school thrash done right, something a lot of modern thrash acts struggle with when they even bother. Early Slayer, Dark Angel, and Infernäl Mäjesty are the cornerstones to this temple of fucking thrash, and it is as dark and dangerous as that implies. Nothing fancy, nothing technical, nothing gimmicky, just a little under 30 minutes of hateful carnage that will leave you grabbing for your air guitar as you lose all control, with the hellish, skull-crushing highlight "Raised by the Undead" in particular being one of the best thrash songs I have heard in a long time. My sole complaint is that this could have easily had a song or two more and been even better for it, which is the most flattering criticism I can really give.

The Mouth of Moloch has opened to spew forth the dark, arcane magic of aggressive '80s thrash, and it'll leave you begging it to swallow you whole again and again. Phenomenal.