This bitter thrash trio hails from Germany and, since forming in 2001, have released seven albums. “Hallowed Be the Game” is therefore the Bitterness’ eighth record, and here they deliver more thrash metal of the Teutonic variety. In other words, it sounds like bands such as Kreator and Sodom – perhaps especially Kreator in their post-2000s era. That’s not a negative at all, as Kreator have truly flourished since then and become a massive thrash metal band. Bitterness aren’t quite at that level, and they probably don’t have songs catchy enough to reach the same popularity either.
But the band plays very well. There are plenty of killer riffs, a solid rhythm section, and vocalist Frank Urschler sings well – so well, in fact, that I think Bitterness deserve more attention. Still, the band should focus more on the songwriting, make the tracks more memorable, and perhaps also find a more unique sonic identity so they stand out from the many other thrash metal bands today. That said, I like what I’m hearing, and Bitterness have definitely put together a strong product here. I should also mention that Gerre from the German thrash metal band Tankard provides guest vocals on the track “High Sobriety”. The cover art is cool too, showing Jesus in front of a hall full of people seated in booths facing a screen. The album closes with a Misfits cover of the song “Scream” from 1999 – a difficult cover to pull off, considering the melodic vocals, but Bitterness have done a surprisingly good version of it.
Released February 6th, 2026 on G.U.C..
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