Review: Cruel Force “Haneda”
Release date: 27 March 2026
Label: Shadow Kingdom Records
7–11 minutes
Gage J. Tolin
SHADOW KINGDOM RECORDS is proud to present CRUEL FORCE’s highly anticipated fourth album, Haneda, on CD, vinyl LP, and cassette tape formats.
Truest of the true, Germany’s CRUEL FORCE burst onto the scene in 2008 with the Into the Crypts… demo. While many have tried to emulate the ancient German (black)thrash sound, CRUEL FORCE brimmed with an authenticity that could not be denied, as well as songwriting that added to that noble tradition rather than lazily picking at its corpse. Their two successive albums, 2010’s The Rise of Satanic Might and 2011’s Under the Sign of the Moon, made CRUEL FORCE a certifiably CULT name in the international metal underground. Sadly, the band fell into a hiatus following that second album, but returned reinvigorated with the comeback 7″ EP Across the Styx in 2022 and, a year later, the glorious full-length Dawn of the Axe at the hands of new label home SHADOW KINGDOM.
Continuing to make up for lost time, CRUEL FORCE storm back with swords gleaming high on their fourth full-length, Haneda. Where a line could be drawn between the band’s “first era” of The Rise of Satanic Might / Under the Sign of the Moon, so continues this Second Era that began with Dawn of the Axe – one that harkens to the “Jurassic period” of heavy metal, when everything was rawer, less polished, and more energetic and powerful. As displayed by that pivotal predecessor, Haneda further proves that CRUEL FORCE are more so an old-style speed metal band, largely bereft of that blackened edge during their First Era. The tradeoff is that there’s a prominent mysticism coursing through that speed, and the blue-collared aspect of Dawn of the Axe is now spit-shined to a lethal slickness that makes Haneda hit that much harder.
However, it must be stressed that, while it follows logically from Dawn of the Axe, Haneda is very much its own headspace, its own continuation of a still-vital aesthetic. At times more epic, exuding both more and different atmospheres, CRUEL FORCE here take the listener on a journey from old temples to desert planes, from deep jungles to mountain tops, and other mysterious locales beyond; indeed, the whole record is like a journey through mystical realms. Although no concept album, Haneda is very conceptual in its aesthetics, even down to its production: BIG and natural-toned, from the guitars to especially the drums, everything here is as ’80s and authentic as possible, underlining those days when it was imperative to have a massive-sounding record.
“To us, it often feels like what Rainbow / Dio would have sounded if they’d played speed metal!” state the band, and with its neoclassical moments plus tasteful references to Eastern European metal, Haneda locates that unique melting-pot of the thrashing rage of classic Kreator, Deathrow, Razor, Piledriver, and Powerlord meeting the grandeur of equally-classic Rainbow, Iron Maiden, and Virgin Steele. Again, this is AUTHENTIC as it gets!
With whips a-swinging, the warlords of CRUEL FORCE wield the Sword of Iron and await the Titan’s awakening. Dare you venture into Haneda and disturb the Savage Gods on the way to the Crystal Skull?
Line-Up
Carnivore- Guitars
Slaughter- Vocals
GG Alex- Drums
Spider- Bass
Review
“The Cross”, our slightly over a minute intro, erupted from the onset with some solidly melodic guitars and an overall rhythm that felt like the build up to something big.
“Whips-A-Swinging” desecrates and defiles the aforementioned melody right out of the gate with thundering double bass, drummer GG Alex is all over the place here (in a good way). The recurrent drumroll is such a nice touch to add another layer to the drumming. Carnivore’s vocals felt a bit more melodic as well, compared to the rest of Cruel Force’s discography and especially their early work. Slaughter and Spider, on guitar and bass respectively, really hold things down with some incredible riffing throughout. Spider, in particular, is ravenous at keeping up a nasty groove. This was an excellent piece of blackened thrash for about the first two or so minutes, and then there’s an insanely funky breakdown that really moved it into the next level.
With a downright malicious riff to start, “Savage Gods” wasted little time in getting to the point. There’s a freneticism here that a lot of modern speed/thrash tends to sorely lack, but Cruel Force has it here in spades. Once again, GG is destroying the drumkit like they owe him money (or blood). While the chorus was a bit hookier than I’d anticipated, it was a total earworm. That first call-out of the track title hits like a bulldozer! For the guitar solo in this one, there was a sense of neo-classical playing (a la Randy Rhoads), adding another layer to this Satanic onslaught. Also mega props for the Big Rock Ending, Rock Band style!
“Sword of Iron” let loose with another dastardly riff and some more incredible drumming (the mixing on the drums is perfection). Notably, there’s less of a black metal influence on this one and more straight up speed/thrash metal. The addition of the background choir at around 1:30 to back-up the outstanding guitar solo was peak stuff, really structured like some old school 80s metal. It actually felt like to belonged and not like a tacked on nostalgia tug, and it really propelled the track up a notch. For the final minute, the choir returns for a second guitar solo before the fadeout. If I had any complains for this one, it’s that it wasn’t long enough, and it was still 4 minutes long.
“Crystal Skull” began with an Indian-style introduction, complete with the perennially underutilized sitar. It was brief but it did a lot to build ambiance for the forthcoming track. Similarly, the tempo of the main riff was so uniquely odd that I found myself enthralled by it. Not even anything unbelievably complex, it was just cool sounding. This was an instrumental track that featured great riff after great riff, along with the incredible drumming that had become commonplace. It’d be nearly impossible for me to pick out a favorite riff or sequence, but the portion near the 3 minute mark where things slow down into something that made me think of deserts (and Ancient Egypt?) was a particular highlight. I normally never know what to say with instrumentals, but this one was absolutely mental.
https://youtu.be/Btshd3iX1yw
At 6 and a half minutes long, “Warlords” was the first of two lengthier tracks and it began with a great headbanger of a riff. Spider’s basslines shine through the darkened haze, with each pluck of the string striking like cannon fire. GG Alex’s incredible drumming persists, in particular with the section at 4:30. As is customary for Cruel Force, littered throughout the track were many more ace quality riffs. I must also commend their keeping of the frenzied nature of much of their riffs, just because the song is a bit slower, doesn’t mean Cruel Force is any less deadly. While it didn’t quite grip me as firmly as the other tracks thus far, this was still an absolute banger, and it’s nice to see Cruel Force slow things a bit and make a more straight-up heavy metal song.
“Black Talon” featured a monumentally gripping main riff that I couldn’t help but headbang along with. Carnivore’s delivery in this one had a particular venom attached to it as well, as if he was cursing the listener. In terms of vibes, this one reminded me a lot of early Slayer (particularly Hell Awaits era, aka best Slayer era). Again though, Cruel Force’s ability to juggle the ferocity of blackened speed metal with a refined sense of melody that is often lost for many black/speed bands is to celebrated. I wish I could say more about this one, but I can’t get that riff out of my head.
With a main riff that felt almost discordant, “Titan’s Awakening” began with a sense of evil and foreboding. The first two minutes or so of this one was already incredible black/speed goodness, but the riff at that 2 minute mark was like the part in Total Recall when that dude’s head blows up (it was cool). But then Cruel Force hits me once again with an insane chugging riff and then a sizzling groove with a bit of guitar solo over it. Yeah, this was insane stuff. The final half of this track is some of the best stuff on the entire album, and maybe even in Cruel Force’s entire discography thus far (that’s a high bar though haha).
Finally we come to “Haneda”, our title track and the longest of the album at a whopping 9 minutes. That fact alone had my interest piqued (I love long thrash songs, what can I say). As you’d expect, there’s a bit of a build up to kick things off with the traditional ‘clap-along-to-the-beat’ drum/bass combo, but this ain’t hard rock, this is f*ckin’ speed metal baby and there’s a sort of thunder behind every crash of the drums before the guitars erupt into a frenzy. The delivery of the chorus is glorious stuff as well, band chant sequences will always get me, and Carnivore even gets an ‘Eugh!’ moment. The midway point of the song brought things back down to Earth (Hell?) with a slower and more melodic bridge section that also saw a return of the drum/bass sequence from the intro. An appropriate final track to be sure, everything that worked throughout the album all came together for a bonafide opus of epic proportions.
Conclusion
Cruel Force returned in 2021 with arguably their best work to date in Dawn of the Axe, but I have to say that I think that title is up for contention with Haneda. While longtime fans might malign the less overt black metal influences in favor of the more speed/power tinged areas, Cruel Force has shown that they’re not just another in the long ass line of Bathory/Venom clones. Instead they’re something unique and while they still proudly wave their love of those early black metal legends, their ability to also dive into the wellspring of their influences and immerse their sound and style into their own identity is something to behold. After all, if every metal genre were a color on a painter’s palette, you’d have to combine them all to get black.
TheNwothm Score: 9/10
Links
Bandcamp: https://cruelforceofficial.bandcamp.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cruelforce
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cruelforceofficial/
Label: https://www.shadowkingdomrecords.com/
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