“No more beautiful music in metal!” That’s Witchtrap’s motto, and surely nobody would disagree. That is, unless you’re one of these people that thinks metal bands should be regularly followed around by orchestras, in which case the chances are you will be swiftly imprisoned if the band ever seizes political power. They probably won’t though, so don’t worry.

If they were in charge, they would probably make everybody listen to killer blackened thrash ‘n’ roll every day. In fact “killer blackened thrash ‘n’ roll” sums this record up entirely adequately in four words, so you might as well stop reading and go listen to it (when it comes out next month, anyway). But for those of you still here, some further description. Vengeance is my Name spits out breakneck thrash riffs, offset by Burning Axe Ripper’s Colombian-accented snarling about war and Satan. That makes it sound a bit like Aura Noir, but the album also has a jovial retro rock streak, which gives it just as much in common with Midnight’s widely-praised Satanic Royalty, as well as NWOBHM-influenced early thrash classics.

It is an instantly loveable combination: raucous thrash anthems like Damned to the Core or the aptly-named Metal (a rousing tautology, paying sagacious homage to the fact that metal fans like metal music), fit alongside equally anthemic down-tempo stompers like the singalong brilliance of The Queen of Hell. The latter even features a strutting clean-guitar breakdown that reminds me weirdly of one of The Clash’s more danceable numbers. There are also lots of exuberantly clichéd lead solos, like the Van Halen-aping tapping in the title track, or the fervent thrash widdling in Winds of War. Simpy, there is nothing more you could ask for here.