Jumalation
PROMO 2004

December 2004
Released: 2004, Self-released
Rating: 4.5/5
Reviewer: Luxi Lahtinen

“If you’re believing in God … FUCK YOU!”



The aforementioned declaration can be heard in the 3rd song from JUMALATION called “Ghost Of The Crucified”. This Finnish thrash metal band consists of such lovely named thrash warriors as Pedro Anthares (godless distorted thrash attack), Taurus (insults and rage), Heiko “Explicit” Hate (total evil guitar brutality), Carlos de Gigolo (blasting bass blasphemy) and Esteban Genocidio (warfare noise and rollin’ tanks). Regardless of their somewhat tongue-in-cheek names, we are dealing with musically a very serious and damn impressive thrash metal act here! In fact, I haven’t been this thrilled about any Finnish thrash metal act since the days of the mighty Necromancer, so I guess you’d better tune your eyes up for a careful reading of what I have to say about Jumalation’s newest 4-song promotional demo CD.



First off, when we are talking Jumalation, we are not talking about any teenage wanna-be boys who have just recently discovered that being a member of a thrash metal band is such a cool thing nowadays. We are talking about a bunch of adults in their early/mid thirties here who have seen and experienced a lot as far as the metal scene overall is concerned. So don’t go questioning what they do because you would make a fool out of yourself in seconds by placing your opinion against theirs in the final games, that’s for sure.



Secondly, if you have always considered such thrash metal acts such as Slayer, Infernäl Mäjesty and Canadian Sacrifice as some of your very favorite thrash metal acts ever, then it definitely would be nearly an unforgettable, screaming act of a crime if you missed out on Jumalation. Only on rare occasions has old school thrash metal sounded THIS fuckin’ good in the hands of Finnish thrashers.



I don’t mind going into some specific details of this release, introducing the demo song by song, but all I wanna say is that Jumalation wipes their hairy and filthy asses with most of today’s so-called thrash metal acts. They sound twice as convincing and thrice more entertaining than everyone else in the genre. Jumalation’s bone-deep dive into the utter roots of old school thrash metal simply feels natural, somehow effortless and amazingly well done and carefully thought-out. A fair truckload of riffs, similar to Slayer, with lots of damn cool breaks and tempo changes are present as a dominating element through all of three killer cuts.



Jumalation’s cover of the Sacrilege tune “Lifeline” is simply extraordinary and definitely a cool choice for a cover song. I have a pretty good idea who did the female voice behind the song, this female voice in question having slight overtones of Tam from the Birmingham thrashers Sacrilege in her voice.



Frenzied, violent, addictive and balls-to-the-wall thrash metal in the 80s old school spirit of some of the best bands from that time, thatìs what Jumalation offers. I’m 100% positive this absolutely deadly and ripping package should get them signed to some label any day now. Wanna bet with me for that, you pathetic loser?