Considering the band name, I would have expected a Viking Metal record, but far from it, because the Filipino PAGANFIRE, who have been active since 2004, have dedicated themselves to mangy Thrash Metal and are not afraid to let Black Metal elements flow into their sound. Purely stylistically, the early DESTRUCTION come to mind as a comparison. PAGANFIRE go straight and without frills to work, do it without superfluous ballast and concentrate on musical aggressiveness, which is kept as simple as possible, but at the same time so efficiently brutally beaten out that it is a joy. “Of Deathblades And Bloodsoaked Paths…” is a pure old school Metal work, which takes the Teutonic Thrash of the early ’80s as a model and negates any newfangled and modern influences. The guitars remind you of the crazy solos on the SLAYER debut and the hoarse screams of the shouter immediately beam the listener back to the Ruhrpott scene of the ’80s. PAGANFIRE have the essence of Teutonic Thrash in their blood and send the listener on a pleasant time travel to the beginnings of the genre. Qualitatively, “Of Deathblades And Bloodsoaked Paths…” hardly needs to hide from genre standards like “Obsessed By Cruelty” and “Pleasure To Kill”. The feeling, the energy and the style are similar, only that it’s 2023 and not 1985 anymore, but hardly any retro Thrash band manages to transport these musical feelings so authentically into the present. https://paganfire-ph.bandcamp.com, www.bestialinvasionrecords.com