CYCLONE Known Unto God Review
CYCLONE
Known Unto God (EP)
M Theory Audio
2026
Late last year, Germany’s Darkness blessed us die-hard thrash fans with some mosh-pit-ready re-recorded classics and four new songs after being in the game for forty years. Well, they aren’t gonna be the only ones if Belgium’s CYCLONE have their druthers, as well as some LONG overdue new stuff to say in this new year. What we are about to discuss is 35 years in the making, and that is the incendiary five songs contained in Known Unto God.
Let’s give those uninitiated a brief history first. These teenage friends began in 1980, and on the strength of their demo In the Grip of Evil, they landed support slots opening for Anthrax, Overkill, Agent Steel, Kreator, and Destruction, which led to label interest, with the band choosing to sign with Roadrunner Records. After releasing their debut album Brutal Destruction, they lost some of the core lineup, with Guido and Stefaan working with three new players on 1990’s Inferior To None. By 1993, they called it quits. Now reinvigorated and reunited (at least the core two main members of vocalist Guido Gevels and guitarist Stefaan Daamen), along with some new players, we have this barn-burner EP.
With that out of the way, main man Guido recorded this with the help of Martin Furia (Destruction, Nervosa, Evil Invaders) handling the mixing and mastering. It’s a tight, pummeling, dry mix, yet still maintains its bite without forsaking the low end of the guitars. My only minor critique is that the vocals are a little hot and up front, and the bass frequencies could’ve been brought up a notch. Those personal gripes aside, you’re gonna be hard-pressed to find something in the thrash arena that sounds this pissed off and intentionally murderous. CYCLONE don’t play these songs so much as they ATTACK them. I think reintroducing the band to old and new ears, alike with an EP was smart in this age of short attention spans. The rapid fire of opener “Eliminate” comes bursting out of the speakers with those patented tremolo- and triplet-picked riffs, fast drumming, hateful “yell-talking” vocals, and some high screeching that recalls Schmier and Mille Petrozza. Lyrically, these songs seem to tackle personal traumatic situations and socio-political fare. Stefaan proves himself quite the adept rhythm and lead guitarist, as is evident in the riffy and surprisingly catchy title track (“Known Unto God”) and the scorching lead work of the punk-infused “I Fear Myself.” My favorite moment comes in the wah-infused midsection breakdown of “Nothing Is Real.” We are capped off with the succinct, near three-minute rager that is “The.Truth.Lies.”
CYCLONE’s Known Unto God doesn’t even break 20 minutes, but in that time, they sure break a sweat with their economical approach to East Coast crossover-, Germanic-, and Bay Area-infused thrash. The best albums often take hold of us at first listen and leave us wanting more. That seems to be the model for these bruisers here. It’s nonstop aggression that grabs you by the throat from the word go, and I have probably listened to these songs at least three times through now. The best part is that while they aren’t reinventing the wheel, they are surely making sure the wheel is getting beaten mercilessly with some of the angriest stuff I’ve heard in recent memory. I’m absolutely stoked for a full-length now. The only waffles these Belgians are making are the Doc Marten boot prints I now have on my cranium after having it kicked in by such an acerbic and exhilarating listen…
-TB
RIYL- Kreator, Destruction, SOD, DRI, Suicidal Tendencies