Review: Hoth – The Black Goddess Return

Hoth
The Black Goddess Return

Iron, Blood & Death Corporation
Street: 04.25
Hoth = Deströyer 666+ Desaster / Motörhead

It’s rare to hear a band playing black thrash of this caliber at such low speeds, but J.A. of Hoth utterly nails it. This Portuguese solo artist plays the kind of intentionally anachronistic riffs you’d hear from some basement black metal band from the mid ’90s, but with such conviction and boldness that it gets you up and moving right away. That, and J.A. knows how to shred a guitar solo apart. I’m not talking about Kerry King–style guitar wankery—these are good old rock n’ roll solos that rise like an infernal battle banner above Hoth’s thrashy dissonance. The Black Goddess Return isn’t reinventing the genre, but when it comes to black thrash, the old ways are always best. Draw your sword, raise the horns and bang your fucking head. –Henry Glasheen