Review: “Unholy Retribution” by Violator

The roots of Brazilian Thrash Metal quartet Violator go back to a 2002 demo titled “Killer Instinct“, the band finally reaching their third full length album with this new burnt offering “Unholy Retribution” some twenty three years later. In between times the band have offered up some sixteen records with various splits, EPs and live albums filling the gaps in their discography with 2019’s “You Never Know the Charm of Thrash – Live in Beijing” arguably the finest of those. Ironically enough that was their last output with numerous other projects finding focus in the meantime.

However, the time for those is done as drummer David “Batera Bone Crusher” Araya (Scumbag, The Grindful Dead), guitarist Pedro “Capaça Bloody Nightmare” Augusto Diaz (Incarceration, Scumbag), bassist and vocalist Pedro “Poney Ret Crucifier” Arcanjo Matos (Abismo, Ameaça Cigana, Scumbag) alongside guitarist Marcio “Cambito Chains Killer” Cambito (Burial Temple, Malicious Intent) return. Recorded at Refinaria Estúdios, Brasília, Brazil in July 2025, produced, mixed and mastered by Yarne Heylen (Sisters Of Suffocation, When Plagues Collide, Nervosa) at Project Zero in Laakdal, Belgium, the expectation of more tales of nuclear apocalypse, death cults and anti-fascist rhetoric awaits…

The church bell sounds as the Zombie hordes dine on those who pray for salvation as “Hang The Merchants Of Illusion” takes hold of your cranium, old school adrenaline pumping Thrash riffs taking us all the way back to the early 80’s for this VHS style nastiness. Suitably atmospheric and with a face-melter of a solo in the final third, this is exactly what we’ve come to expect from Violator over the past two decades. Heylen deserves a lot of credit for putting the bass higher in the mix than it is found on some of the newer Canadian Thrash records, something which gives it a real nostalgic charm as well as tasteful edge. while that first cut had a little introduction the band waste no time with the rapid fire assault on the senses that is “Cult Of Death“. Instead the quartet go zero to 88 miles per hour within seconds leaving flame streaks across the tarmac as the DeLorean takes us back in time. The fist in the air chant of the song title is going to go down extremely well live, the spoken word moment a nice touch as the tempo slows before returning like a tornado with a whirlwind of percussive battery from Batera. A rampage through riffs that threaten to reach blackened or even Death Metal territory ensues, the bombastic bass helping deliver a crushing finale.

Rising from the grave with a little whammy bar action “Persecution Personality” has the kind of earworm riff that once it gets inside your head can never leave. As fearfully addictive as the latest designer drug with some gloriously sinister moments as the quartet play with subtle tempo changes, this is exactly what you want on your horror film soundtrack. If you thought that a mid album power ballad was on the way, guess again as “Destroy The Altar” decimates the weak with its Speed Thrash rage, harking back to the golden age of bands like Vio-lence or even Exodus in the process. There is no regret, there is no remorse, there is just all out destruction on a war path to total annihilation with a building site wrecking ball swinging in all directions.

Slowing things down a notch without reducing the intensity, the bone crushing introduction to “The Evil Order” offers a little respite as it builds a foreboding atmosphere before picking up the pace once more. Another vicious assault on the senses front loaded with barbed riffage and skull battering percussion, this one is as much fun as you can have without losing a limb in a chainsaw accident. As if one bombing raid wasn’t enough “Chapel Of The Sick” continues the artillery shelling from the drum kit, providing covering fire as the quartet enter David Vincent era Morbid Angel territory with all guns blazing. The blistering guitar work no doubt left smoke pouring from the fretboards like the exhaust pipe on Motorcycle in the studio, the burning smell coming from the musicians calloused hands all part of the process when it comes to making an all killer no filler Thrash record.

If that one wasn’t fast enough for you then the introduction to “Rot In Hell” breaks the sound barrier before slowing for a groove laden moment. Screams of “Condemned in fire, you rot in hell!” are roared with blood spitting rage meaning that not only is there is no chink in the armour of this record but it has fantastic flow too. A longer cut with some more involved guitar work “Vengeance Storm” has a darker atmosphere and some longer instrumental passages as the band have us in the palm of their hands, swaying like marionettes as we wait for the call to the circle pit. That happens around the two minute mark, the galloping drums and rumbling bass echoing the evil storm of vengeance in the lyrical narrative. A barnstorming conclusion to a scorcher of a record, its exactly what you thought it would be and so much more [8.5/10]

Track Listing

1. Hang The Merchants Of Illusion
2. Cult Of Death
3. Persecution Personality
4. Destroy The Altar
5. The Evil Order
6. Chapel Of The Sick
7. Rot In Hell
8. Vengeance Storm

“Unholy Retribution” by Violator is out 5th September 2025 via Kill Again Records