The last time lead Nocturnal Breed headman Kenneth Svartalv (aka S.A. Destroyer) ushered his forces into war was back in 2007, just as world financial systems were crumbling under their own gluttonous weight. Now, some seven long-ass years later, S.A. Destroyer returns with the Breed in tow and V. Fineideath replacing A. E. Rattlehead on riffs and six-stringer Axeman I. Maztor returning from self-imposed exile on lady defilement. As luck would have it, the market’s making a triumphant return, too. Not that violent Norwegian thrash has anything to do with positive gains in the world’s financial systems.

So, what are Nocturnal Breed doing now that they weren’t in 2007 (or in 1997 on debut album, Aggressor)? Nothing really. They’ve remained remarkably consistent, producing lick-worthy and bulletbelt-powered albums of neo-thrash greatness long before the neo-neo-thrash metal movement kicked off with great fanfare in the aughts.

New album, Napalm Nights, picks up where the excellently received Fields of Rot left off. The first song off Napalm Nights is called “Speedkrieg” and it’s gruesome, bone-cracking thrash. With a hint of blackness.

S.A. Destroyer explains: “Imagine how it felt, plowing through the massacre trench lands of the winter-gripped Eastern Front… Running like a mad rat over your brothers’ mangled carcasses, as government-tailored amphetamines roar through your blood and shell-shocked brain… Carrying only one merciless thought of blind rage as you dive into the hail of led and iron-clad death, in full force suicide formation… That’s what this song is about!

Not the crooked politics behind it all, but the gruesome historical facts and the individual fates that went through this grinder… Ever since I was a young boy I have been told stories from my family, about the atrocities that unfolded during the WWII winter campaign into Russia, the insane cruelty from both sides of the fence, and the share horror that followed the trail of this massive strategic failure. Soldiers were fed speed on a daily basis, to enhance their endurance and fuel their blood thirst.

I’ve been grinding on this bone for most of my life, and it was ‘bout due time to tell this story in a historical close-up perspective. So when I. Maztorpresented us with this bone cracker of a song, as the first suggestion for the new album, we dove head first into it. As I see it, it is a fast fuckin’ track, nailing the shit to the cross as it should be thrash-wise.

So enjoy! And let this iron fist drag you through the mud of humanity’s darkest moments in history… Metal to the bone!!!”

Nocturnal Breed’s new album, Napalm Nights, is out March 18th in North America via Agonia Records. It’s available HERE in CD, DLP, and limited (100 copies worldwide) DLP. March toward the fire. Feel the burn.