Really, I can't find a delicate way around this, nor do I see why I really should dwell on it as I write this – Whipstriker fancies Celtic Frost to the umpth degree, or at least have shared a decent amount of influences. Sure, you got a bit of Venom in there, etc – yeah, a lot of bands cite them as an influence, but wasn't the result of a more 'extreme' Venom ultimately Celtic Frost? I think so. I wouldn't go so far as to say the group are copycats, not even close. But hell if they aren't an iteration of that legendary band, intentional or not.

My god, even the vocals on this album sound ripped straight from the bowls of a Celtic Frost album. If I hadn't known more about this group, you could tell me Whipstriker's vocals were that of an early Tom Warrior and I'd believe you one-hundred-percent. Songs are, pretty much structured like something you'd hear off a early Celtic Frost album but, let me get off that. Everything else Whipstriker does seems to be very much their own. Lyrical themes don't always matter, metal is about so much more then lyrics, but Whipstriker really knows how to illustrate a hellish battlefield... well, pretty much hellish anything when it comes to the subject matter at hand. Besides that, you're getting a much better guitar tone here then even Celtic Frost. For all I can say about my love of Whipstriker's listed influces (Venom, Motorhead, Onslaught, etc), this group sounds so much better then any of them. They are one of those bands I can truly say, has surpreceeded their forefathers and would even please the more 'pure' fans of metal (the kind that was around when the big bands were little and followed them through the ages). So, no, I don't feel like all these comparisons hold the group back. Well, at the very least, they don't hold Whipstriker back when it comes to Merciless Artillery. Personally, I've heard nothing else prior but I may have to after hearing this.

And, what's this I see? They are Brazilion? Color me, not surprised. Brazil has some of the best metal and best metal fans this world has to offer. For some metal that I could only describe as blackened thrash speed... something (a wholly technical for those who care about a genre label). Well then check out Whipstriker, why not? I mean, you should at least be checking it out to see if it really does sound that close to Celtic Frost – feel free to prove me wrong.