Review of the Album "House of Possession" by Norwegian Thrash Metal Band Shakma

House of Possession is the 2018 studio album and also the first full length release from thrash metal band Shakma. These guys are relatively new to the scene being active since only 2014 and my exploring nature allows me to discover heavy metal bands virtually on a daily basis. Let’s get down to analyzing newcomers to the thrash metal scene Shakma!

The first song called Blood Ritual starts with some sinister dialogue about these creatures coming to feast on their prey and they may have taken a page out of Judas Priest’s book remembering the lyrics of the song Nightcrawler. Norway normally isn’t a nation that some people would associate with the genre of thrash but this small populated Northern European nation is VERY skilled musically, being able to compete with pretty much any nation on the globe. However, to some listeners the lyrics will make them feel squeamish and kind of sickened which is understandable so if you fit that description, this band is not for you. Having said that, Shakma are not a band like Cannibal Corpse and they are too new to come under any kind of controversy yet. Speed is the main focus of Shakma and they do a pretty good job of it too. Blood Ritual the first song in the album has a mid-1990’s American melodic death metal feel to it briefly.

The lyrics are horror based addressing things such as curses from mummies and other terms that we would normally hear in October on the Halloween holiday. I’ve heard that Shakma sounds like Exodus and that description is kind of accurate but the solos are similar to German thrash metal band Holy Moses in a way as well. Midnight Mass is one of those songs that may remind you of 1984 era Mercyful Fate because of the 1980’s style guitar tone and there are also quite a bit of grunts throughout this album.

When we get to the title track, lyrically the song is about a house of horrors as it is possessed by evil forces or evil spirits that prey upon those that dare to tread into this house of horrors. The mummy has had a negative connotation in video games and especially in horror movies but that’s the way it is and that’s kind of cheesy cliche but we have to address in in terms of the musical style here for Shakma. The song Ruthless Defiler is about a sort of evil spirit that has been awakened from death as he uses the power of black magic to lay waste to the temples.

House of Possession is actually a better album than previously thought! The slow buildup pf the song Midnight Mass adds strength to this claim. Of course, we aren’t trying to compare these Norwegians to a well-established band that has been in the music business since the 1980s but these Norwegians show that they can compete musically with other bands.