Review: “Harbinger” by Electrocutioner

It is written that the cryptic writings of New York Old School Thrash trio Electrocutioner are the product of decades of underground sensibility, based on a formula of riff-first construction, harsh and abrasive tendencies and a love of the kind of synths found in John Carpenter movie soundtracks. Few who heard their critically acclaimed 2023 debut album “False Idols” or witnessed them live would disagree and so after a run of DIY or DIE releases, they take a bold step.  Produced, Mixed, and Mastered by Joe Cincotta (The Black Dahlia Murder, Suffocation, Obituary) at Full Force Recording Studio after guitars, bass and synths were recorded in house by bassist Rich Nieves, “Harbinger” is a sophomore album that slots into the both the long awaited and highly anticipated categories. Joining Nieves are of course drummer Tyler Bogliole and guitarist, vocalist and synth lover Mark Pursino, the unholy trinity very much the three horsemen of the apocalypse since the bands inception in 2020.

As you would expect, the low budget horror movie aesthetic and adrenaline fuelled Thrash riffs that runs through all of their previous works continues into “Harbinger” because that is exactly who Electrocutioner are, opening track “Doomsday Device” being very much a distillation of their formula. Unrelenting speed riffage with a few Blackened leads and some shrill howling from Pursino is enough to set the world on fire, the bands no nonsense approach very much in evidence. Threatening to break the land speed record for a second time while leaving fretboards smouldering “Lightning Sacrifice” cuts like a hot knife through butter, the gang chants adding that fist in the air charm to a cut designed from the ground up for stage dives and high fives. Pursino’s soloing is masterful, striking the right balance with a little bit of a tip of the hat to bands like Power Trip in the process. Inspired by ancient Incan rituals where children were placed atop volcanos to be struck by lightening in the ultimate virgin sacrifice, the band capture that sense of terror and mysticism with their old school stylings firmly intact. As you can’t have enough gang chants the Luciferian “Heaven’s Gate” brings them to the chorus which then begs for your participation. Resistance is futile as the sinister undertaking unfolds, the urgency and directness of the bands approach ensuring its a nail biting classic.

From one chilling tale to another “Frozen File” is one told from the perspective of an abducted child whose case has gone cold. Pursino captures the dark and unsettling mood perfectly with his vocal performance, the rhythm section of Bogliole and Nieves acting as the driving force behind it all. The masterstroke is the moment of melody that completes the track, a fleeting bit of respite allowing the next one to strike that much harder in contrast. Title track “Harbinger” feels like it was a demo taken from the “Master Of Puppets” sessions, such is the quality of the rip roaring riffs it has at its bitter black heart. Pursino’s vocals are far darker however, twisting the knife like a wrathful God seeking retribution for humanities stupidity. Again the atmosphere of foreboding darkness is nailed to perfection, the chilling low budget 80’s horror movie aesthetic all part of thrill of the chase. Galloping over the fields in midnight hour like the Grim Reaper himself “Final Prophet” comes across like the final prayers of a man possessed by mental illness, seeking forgiveness from any and all Gods in the hour of need in an attempt to escape the insane asylum. All of that comes with a lethal dose of barbed vocals and hellraising guitars as a masterful demonstration of that this trio are capable of when they smash their skulls together. A synth interlude in “Vision I” provides a moment of eerie and haunting respite with what sounds like a dreamscape of a helicopter sent to collect the body bags in Vietnam. That paves the way for the blistering “End of Days” and its Thrash or be Thrashed once again. Pursino asks what will it take for total annihilation of the human race but you might not hear that because you’ll too busy snaping your neck.

Bringing back the gang chants “The Chariot” continues the race to hell at death defying speed, a little whammy bar action adding a spice that’s nice. A tale of a holy war that finds the chariot rider beheading demons, it calls for you to kneel or die by the sword in blood spitting fashion. A call to a circle pit with its lightening speed and riffs from calloused hands it does not disappoint. “Azazel” finds James Oliver of Austin Texas Blackened Thrash assailants Sadistic Force providing a spoken word, returning the favour as Pursino contributed synths and guitars to various cuts on their 2023 album “Midnight Assassin” and 2025 EP “Morbid Odyssey“. The track itself is an absolute ripper with Azazel referring to an evil spirit in the ancient Jewish rite of Yom Kippur, a scapegoat sent to bear the sins of the Jewish people. Pursino plays the protagonist, a man tortured for all time by the evil deeds and its more than enough to get you to read into the deeper meaning once the headbanging is done. “Seven Seals of Koresh” takes that ancient evil a step further, referring in Hebrew to the man who freed the Jews from Babylonian captivity. However in this dark tale Babylon burns in a final war precision soloing accompanied by pummelling percussion tears your ear canals apart. After that fierce heat and another throat grating vocal performance “Vision II” feels like the melting of a permafrost, sending a chill down the spine. Another belter of a record from the New York trio, “Harbinger” is the one you hand over when someone yet to be converted asks “What is Thrash?” because its utterly timeless [9/10]

Track Listing

1. Doomsday Device
2. Lightning Sacrifice
3. Heaven’s Gate
4. Frozen File
5. Harbinger
6. Final Prophet
7. Vision I
8. End of Days
9. The Chariot
10. Azazel (ft. James Oliver of Sadistic Force)
11. Seven Seals of Koresh
12. Vision II

“Harbinger” by Electrocutioner is out via CDN Records on 5th September 2025 and is available over at bandcamp