Germany's Eradicator bring us their sixth offering The Paradox and its a bit of a belter, formed in Lennstadt in 2004, the band have released albums, Eps and singles consistently from 2009’s The Atomic Blast, through to 2021's Influence Denied, all in an old school thrash vein.
The Paradox is a slight departure from this, and is a more diverse and mature sounding album.
Beyond The Shadow's Void opens the album with an atmospheric wind noise and a creepy semi acoustic solo guitar motif, before exploding into a brutal classic metal verse which cranks up to thrash speed over the duration of the song. 
The vocals of Sebastian “Seba” Stöber are somewhere between thrash and death metal, raspy at times, growled at others, but very coherent, which is good as the subject matter of the lyrics is interesting, covering the dichotomy and ambivalence of human action and thought, denigration of the weaker to make oneself stronger. The Paradox of trying to create peace through war and having to evacuate the planet due to environmental destruction, only for the “Ark” to be stuck in orbit due to space debris (see, I do read the press packs).
The vocals of Sebastian “Seba” Stöber are somewhere between thrash and death metal, raspy at times, growled at others, but very coherent, which is good as the subject matter of the lyrics is interesting, covering the dichotomy and ambivalence of human action and thought, denigration of the weaker to make oneself stronger. The Paradox of trying to create peace through war and having to evacuate the planet due to environmental destruction, only for the “Ark” to be stuck in orbit due to space debris (see, I do read the press packs).
The guitars of “Seba” and Robert “Robb” Wied are precise, the riffs tighter than a shikari master’s knots, the drums of Jan- Peter “Pitti” Stöber are at points stupidly fast, but never out of control, and tie together well with the bass of Sebastian Zoppe. The standout track for me was When the Shooting Begins, a mostly mid paced tune with a hooky chorus, a superb solo, which speeds up towards the end, but they also have a real groove to some numbers, with a real swing to Kill Cloud.
Sometimes the vocals don’t quite match the music; Hell Smiles Back being the main offender, where Seba’s high notes get a bit ‘Bad News’, but the music is still great., The kick drums really give you a pounding, and they also have quite a country twang to some of the guitar parts, especially the opening and closing parts of The Eleventh Hour (Ramble On), which is a slower number than the rest of the album. It also feels experimental with multiple time changes, it’s almost progressive, but still good.
Otherwise, it’s straight-ahead thrash, and at 55 mins, the time flies by, and it’s a pleasant way to spend that time. If they tour the UK soon, expect to see me in the pit.
The Paradox is released via Metalville on 20th September
Review by Andrew Matthews
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