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Sweden's Hellbutcher (one of three currently active bands under that name according to Metal Archives) is having their debut album released by Metal Blade Records, which invites a high level of expectation, and the band delivers. Nominally a black metal band, Hellbutcher cranks out lightning-fast blast beats and evil, rasping vocals by the metric ton. Their influences aren't hard to divine, from the barking vocals that had me thinking of Bewitcher to the Slayer-esque squealing leads to the rhythmic bass lines that have some of Lemmy's grimy fingerprints on them. Make no mistake, Hellbutcher are here to rip your head off but there is a musicality to their songwriting that is often missing from other black/death/thrash music which seems content to let their aggression alone do most of the talking. Hellbutcher's songs, on the other hand, are actual songs, each with its own identity. Not that I don't have room for some mindless, thrashing music at times, but Hellbutcher's replay value is on another level. Hellbutcher is a mature and entertaining debut that has me already anticipating more from this band.