It’s no secret we love a bit of South American blackthrash mania here at Sentinel Daily, so when the chance came to have a listen to Colombian exponents of that particular art, Hellion, well… to say I was keen was an understatement!

The band have just released a new full-length (their third) by the name of The Magic Within and… well, I’d be lying if I said it was an unmitigated success. However when it’s good – the opening track Renegade, the title track and the quite superbly titled Headbang Earthquake – there is quite a lot to get excited about.

When they hit their straps, the band sound most at home delivering a Teutonic-style firestorm that delivers real vigour and venom. The afore-mentioned Headbang Earthquake, with it’s tumbling-on-the-edge-of-catastrophe drums, courtesy of Killer Blast and howling at the moon soloing from Warlord sees the band staking a claim at blackthrash’s top table. However elsewhere, as so often happens with bands from metal’s ’emerging nations’, the studio wizardry at the band’s disposal just isn’t quite enough to paper over some niggling little cracks.

Still, there is little or nothing the band can do about that, so, as ever, it’s probably best to accentuate the positive and point out that The Magic Within does contain the framework of a very good album. Let’s hope it gets into the ears of a label with the financial wherewithal to get the band into the sort of recording environment in which they can truly flourish!

The Magic Within Is Out Now