Australia has always been a good place for Metal – and for Thrash Metal in particular, I think. Melbourne-based IN MALICE’S WAKE are probably the biggest candidate to sink the ship but not that far away behind them, comes also this 4-piece Thrash Metal act called BLACKENED from the same area. The guys sound like they are ready to kill in the name of old school Thrash Metal with these 3 demo songs they have featured on their 2011 demo – and indeed, the demo’s killing capacity is actually on a pretty high level. To me they sound a bit like some sort of mishmash of UK’s EVILE – and especially the band’s demo era, and SLAYER when it comes to some certain riffs and stuff on the band’s "The Sense Of Violence" demo. There’s nothing in them, which wouldn’t be familiar to us already but then again, a well executed and idea-rich old school Thrash Metal has never needed any gimmicks or abracadabras to stand out – and BLACKENED do more than just a good job at impressing a bunch of us hungry Thrash Metal maniacs on their 3-track demo offering for sure. ‘Hellish Intensity’, the 2nd track off this demo, is the one that has the strongest SLAYER vibe in it. And hey, is that one certain yet so familiar riff borrowed from SLAYER’s ‘Chemical Warfare’ song, that’s also to be found in BLACKENED’s ‘Hellish Intensity’ tune (start listening at 3:53min)? At any case, I am very positive that we all will hear so much more about these long-haired Aussie Thrashers in the future – and naturally also prefer having a full-length studio recording out from them next, right dear folks? More information about BLACKENED at: www.facebook.com/blackenedmusic