83. Ogun - "World of Hate"
Liverpool has never really had a metal scene and certainly no stand out metal acts outside of the world-conquering Carcass. There has been splutterings of life but usually it has ended up snuffed out. Ogun showed that there was stirrings of something special in the early noughties, but real life got in the way before they could make any serious headway or at the very least release anything of note. Time was eked out as karaoke rock act for hire Rockzilla but there was still a veritable itch to scratch. The beast was resurrected in 2022 and suddenly, twenty-two years after they first started making waves on Merseyside we have a Bonafide debut album.
It is an absolute dozer. Thrash but perfected for a more refined crowd. Time is the best teacher and time has taught them how to create immaculate riffs reinforced with steel. Every note is here for a reason. All the fat has been trimmed. Instead we have a slim concise album that understands instinctively how good songs work. The choruses are strident enough to feel voluminous but have a swagger and self-belief that makes them infectious. Good things come to those who wait and suddenly we have a stunningly good Liverpudlian metal album.