RAPID
Enter the Realm of Fire CD JEWELCASE

It was but 2022 when RAPID released their debut mini-album, Blackstar Oppression Regime, via DYING VICTIMS. Here, the Finnish power-trio had sharpened their sound into something compelling and uncategorizable. The urgency of hardcore punk, the hook-oriented propulsion of speed metal, and the spidery aura of old-wave black metal all collided into something that was electric the second you pressed “play.” Subtly unique, Blackstar Oppression Regime also suggested that RAPID had ever more in their tank.

Now, RAPID unload their fullest arsenal with the debut album Enter the Realm of Fire. Arriving over a decade since their original formation, this first full-length displays the patience and hard graft that should come with a band’s debut album – one gauntlet grasping their foundational past, and a hand on the torch for the future. Indeed, that mini-album sported some lead lines that could’ve come from classic deathrock, but on Enter the Realm of Fire, they’re in full bloom, connecting the dots from turn-of-the-‘80s heavy metal to contemporaneous underground rumblings that should be immediately apparent to only true believers. That the hot-rockin’ takes precedence in RAPID’s current attack doesn’t make their ancient musings any less urgent; rather, these more flowing and delayed-gratification constructions serve songwriting that’s stronger overall and more charismatic than ever. To that, bassist Vincent Revenge’s vocals have become both clearer and grimier, approximating an off-the-rails crypt-keeper narrating nefarious deeds; simply witness the epic closing title track for ghoulishly poignant proof. Or, really, dispense with the fancy words, Enter the Realm of Fire, and be mesmerized by RAPID’s olde-worlde metal anarchy!