{"id":93936,"date":"2025-10-21T03:53:09","date_gmt":"2025-10-21T03:53:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/93936\/"},"modified":"2025-10-21T03:53:09","modified_gmt":"2025-10-21T03:53:09","slug":"ravager-from-us-with-hate-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/93936\/","title":{"rendered":"Ravager – From Us with Hate Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"What can one reasonably say that hasn\u2019t already been proclaimed in the halls of AMG over and over again about throwback thrash bands? In a genre that continues to pump out music for over forty years, breaking the mold is like chiseling out of your prison cell with a spoon. Doable? Maybe. But true escape is improbable. Germany\u2019s Ravager peddles in the same stylistic trappings that you have seen a million times before from bands like Havok<\/a>, Lich King<\/a>, Warbringer<\/a>, Gamma Bomb, and so, so many others before them. While many of these throwback acts ended up evolving their sounds and peeling themselves free of the mozzarella mosh of pizza thrash, will Ravager do the same on their fourth LP, From Us with Hate? Or, is it doomed to rest alongside the proverbial pineapple topping, as loathed as it is loved?<\/p>\n

How does one even begin to talk about a band like Ravager without reaching for the same old cliches? You have heard all this music before; nothing here will surprise you, especially if you enjoy fast-paced, no-frills thrash with mostly generic lyrics about fighting the system, living hard, and loving metal. During my review, I decided to spin From Us with Hate while playing some rounds of Helldivers 2 (the title of a popular co-op video game for you olde folks). Ravager\u2019s style of no-holds-barred violence, combined with its oddly uplifting lyrical themes, made it a perfect match for the on-screen chaos. But really, this would work for almost any high-octane experience; driving fast, working out, sitting on your ass shooting aliens in a video game, you name it. I couldn\u2019t help but crack a smile as the cheesy yet earnest lyrics of \u201cAlone We Won\u2019t Survive\u201d matched up perfectly with the actions in the game, as I rescued a hapless rookie player from the jaws of death. The best thing I can say is From Us with Hate makes for a decent soundtrack when mowing down alien bugs in a sci-fi fascist hellscape.<\/p>\n

FROM US WITH HATE by Ravager<\/a><\/p>\n

Ravager plays to all the thrash tropes. The opening track, \u201cFreaks Out of Control,\u201d starts like many genre staples before it: a slow kick drum lead with a little high hat that rolls into a rollicking riff. In fairness, each band member fills their respective role well, and Marcel Lehr and Dario Rosenberg\u2019s dual guitar assault is a highlight. From Us With Hate is full of tight riffs and ripping speed. \u201cAggressive Music for Aggressive People,\u201d the title track, and \u201cLegends of the Lightning\u201d are all fun, easy-to-digest thrash staples that get the blood going even if they don\u2019t break the mold. Vocalist Phillip Herbst sounds dangerously close to Lich King\u2019s Tom Martin, and it seems like he might crack at any given time. The vocals sound strained throughout, and rarely change things up outside of a few inspired moments and catchy choruses, such as on \u201cCurse the Living, Hail the Dead\u201d and \u201cDefender.\u201d While Ravager plays with that \u201cbarely keeping this thing on the tracks\u201d energy that epitomizes great thrash, it misses elsewhere. It is clear they have more than enough heart, but the songwriting doesn\u2019t quite match it.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Thankfully, the band\u2019s latest is competently played and features tight production (although the bass is occasionally lost in frustrating ways). Album closer \u201cDefender\u201d is stuffed with tight riffing from Lehr and Rosenberg as well as some standout lead work and multiple blistering tag-team solos from the guitar duo. Herbst never breaks the mold, but competently trucks alongside the bouncing groove of the tracks. Vocals remain the weakest element overall, and the album\u2019s closing cover of Exodus\u2019s \u201cBonded by Blood\u201d highlights this with Herbst\u2019s voice sounding as if it is going to crack at any point in the song, especially in the chorus.<\/p>\n

I appreciate a band that knows their whole schtick is a little silly without making themselves the butt of the joke. Every Ravager album cover is adorned with its goofy snake man, as buff as post-crisis Batman, and clad in ripped jeans and sneakers, but the music itself never becomes too silly. From Us With Hate is the record you\u2019ve heard many times before, and tolerance may vary as a result. If you love throwback thrash bands and eat up anything in the genre, Ravager will keep you sated like a familiar piece of pepperoni pizza at your local shop. If, like me, you are over this style of played-out retro worship, From Us with Hate is just empty calories.<\/p>\n

Rating: 2.5\/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb\/s mp3
Label: Iron Shield Records<\/a>
Websites: ravager.bandcamp.com<\/a> | ravager-thrash.de<\/a> | facebook.com\/ravagerthrash<\/a>
Releases Worldwide: September 19th, 2025<\/p>\n

\n\tGive in to Your Anger:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"What can one reasonably say that hasn\u2019t already been proclaimed in the halls of AMG over and over…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":93937,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[10464,5808,93,59244,5812,59245,61,60,59246,59247,278,59248,563,564,59249,5820,32269,59250],"class_list":{"0":"post-93936","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-2-5","9":"tag-5808","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-gamma-bomb","12":"tag-german-metal","13":"tag-havok","14":"tag-ie","15":"tag-ireland","16":"tag-iron-shield-records","17":"tag-lich-king","18":"tag-music","19":"tag-ravager","20":"tag-review","21":"tag-reviews","22":"tag-rom-us-with-hate-review","23":"tag-sep25","24":"tag-thrash-metal","25":"tag-warbringer"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93936","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=93936"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93936\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/93937"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93936"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93936"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}