Halfway in between SORCERY’s Bloodchilling Tales, the famous Diablo videogame and a spinoff of Masters Of The Universe, Transylvanian Nightmare striking handmade artwork lets you know right away what the name of the game is doesn’t it? Those Mexican warriors may have started right after Covid and they surely didn’t stop since, this four-tracks EP being the follow-up to their debut album, Handed Execution and no less than three demos… Far being productive for the sake of it, it was actually a matter of forging (in fire) their own brand of classic speed and thrash metal and strike the iron while it was still hot. Hence Transylvanian Nightmare boiling like an unbridled volcano, ready to explode in your face…

While the guitar solos and classic heavy metal arrangements abound here, PHANTOM undeniable biggest strength is their out-for-vengeance energy and neck-breaking pace. If the instrumental “Epitaph” features delicate acoustic arrangements and heart-breaking soaring melodies, the title-track is one ripping early-SLAYER like savage ride whereas closer “Raging Pyres” even adds hints of proto-death à la ONSLAUGHT to make sure no-one is left alive once those 19 minutes are over.