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The Official Death Metal Recommendations Thread


RelentlessOblivion

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  • 3 weeks later...

It's so hard to find enough-like-able death metal

so far I somewhat like these but none enough to listen on a daily basis everything I find just sounds so dooomy gloomy, and Technical and Melodic are bad

I'm sure I could find great death trash bands, death folk or so  but I want to see if I can find a straight death band

(i really like Amon Amarth and Death's sound of preserverance album)

https://youtu.be/tw_0WZZOkSc
https://youtu.be/Pz0dS5kuRy0
https://youtu.be/Dw223-FK-Fw
https://youtu.be/FXVN2Nj6sF8 (I like the live version more, the suggested songs from the same album are epic as well)
and the first Deicide album sounds somewhat dope


So yeah anything I could like that is not sounding gloomish doomish? even the mentioned ones sound like that and I don't like them that much anymore just on some degree

still like the Obituary song (live version) I posted

 

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If you know you like Deicide, Obituary, and Cannibal Corpse, why not look further into their catalogs? My personal favorites from them are Legion, Cause Of Death, and Tomb Of The Mutilated, respectively. For a somewhat similar vibe, check out other Florida DM bands like Solstice, Brutality, Ripping Corpse, and Monstrosity. Atheist's first two albums are among my favorites. Death's other albums are mostly great too. Some less gloomy groups from other scenes may appeal to you as well - Suffocation, Morta Skuld, older Broken Hope, Incantation's "Diabolical Conquest".

Most of these bands and a lot of others have been mentioned already. Take some time to go through the video links if you're interested in finding more. 

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It's going to be tough because that tone is sort of part and parcel where death metal is concerned. Macabre might not be a bad band for you. They are a little brighter and have a sort of black comedic approach to their lyrics. The Grim Reality EP is a good starting point. I'd also strongly recommend Anata's The Conductor's Departure as it may change your mind about melodic death metal.

 

Otherwise maybe consult BAN's video links you may find something you like. I went off DM for a while for different reasons (for me it was the vocals) so I get where you're coming from even if I don't agree that DM is unlikeable.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Didn't hear much mention here of Six Feet Under or Unleashed, two of my favorite bands. Also found out today that Belphegor is Blackened Death Metal (sigh genres) so that means they would be classed under death metal too. 

I greatly dislike Six Feet Under, but I'm sure that I've posted an Unleashed video in here somewhere. They're nowhere near my favorite Swedish death metal band, but they're easily one of the more consistent ones, and one of the strongest in the modern day from that early scene. Then again, I do listen to a ton of Swedish death metal, so there is some stiff competition to go against.

I'm also not keen on Belphegor, but they are definitely black/death. I just don't like that they tend to use the most banal and obvious characteristics of both, opting for mindless blasting rather than depth and substance. That said, it may have just been their horrendously cheesy live performance that turned me off, I have limited experience with their recordings.

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I haven't listened to either Six Feet Under or Unleashed since I was a teenager. I was into as much DM as I could find during high school, but lost interest for a few years afterwards, and didn't start listening to either of them again when I picked the genre back up. Belphegor, on the other hand, has put out a few albums I really enjoy despite their limited musical vocabulary and somewhat derivative, repetitive nature. Pestapokalypse VI is their high point IMO, but the two albums before that kick ass too, even with a couple of off tracks. It's a case of making the formula work for them. After that, they started blatantly recycling ideas with almost zero effort. Oh well. They were solid when I saw them live, too, dude's vocals were fantastic. 

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  • 4 weeks later...

This week has been pretty boring here at work (if you couldn't tell from all of the video posts I've been making lately), so I figured another round of death metal was in order.

Impetuous Ritual - Unholy Congregation of Hypocritical Ambivalence

Impetuous Ritual is one of many bands exploring that murky black/death metal sound that has become increasingly popular lately, but they may be one of the murkiest of the bunch. The band bears a great deal of resemblance to Portal, which is not surprising considering that a couple of members here ended up joining Portal, but the sound here is more structured and nowhere near as "out there" as Portal. It's ugly, fuzzy, atmospheric black/death metal that is a bit chaotic and tough to cut through, but with this type of music, it's more about the listening experience than being able to discern individual pieces of the whole.

Infinitum Obscure - Sub Atris Caelis, I:

Infinitum Obscure is a Mexican death metal band that tends toward the more atmospheric and melodic side of the sound. Comparisons to countrymen The Chasm would be obvious, as they do have a very similar sound, and Roberto has played with The Chasm in the past. I wouldn't say that this band is at the same level of quality as The Chasm, but then again, very few bands are. This is not to downplay the band, as they still have plenty going on for them, and fans of personal as distinctive death metal, as well fans of the Swedish melodic black/death sound should find plenty to enjoy here.

Jungle Rot - Fueled by Hate:

Jungle Rot is an interesting band in that they have been working against death metal's progression, taking the more basic, groove oriented sound of bands like Obituary, Bolt Thrower, Master, etc..., and further simplifying them. As a result, they are often called "neanderthal death metal", sounding like a knuckle dragging brute that just beats you over the head with a club. There is absolutely nothing sophisticated about this band, but they are a shitload of fun. Meat and potatoes death metal with pummeling grooves and catchy songs, which I have absolutely no problem with.

Krisiun - Unmerciful Order (EP):

Krisiun are probably the most well known death metal band in Brazil, and with good reason. They do create a tight and powerful sound with loads of speedy riffs and drumming, with an almost overwhelming sense of intensity. Some people prefer their more polished later sound (which there's nothing wrong with, as most of their albums are pretty worthwhile), but their raw early sound is probably my favorite. They have a similarly chaotic vibe to early Kataklysm here, but with less melodic tendencies and maybe some black metal influences as well. Either way, for savage death metal, Krisiun is a fine band to check out.

Lantern - Below:

Lantern are one of the brightest starts in modern death metal as far as I'm concerned. Their sound is somewhat primitive, and composed of elements that will sound plenty familiar to anyone into the genre, but how everything is arranged, and the cavernous atmosphere that they generate with their conviction and songwriting is unlike anything I've ever heard before or since. It succeeds in being murky and heavy, but also unbelievably memorable, these songs get stuck in my head for days after hearing them. It actually evokes the album art shown here quite well, and succeeds at being genuinely deep and creepy, whereas many death metal bands that have tried for something similar would just come off as cheesy. This is totally essential in my eyes, do not miss checking them out!

Lie in Ruins - Towards Divine Death:

Lie in Ruins is an old school Finnish death metal act that never actually got around to releasing anything back in the early 90's when they formed. Around the time of the death metal resurgence of the mid-late 00's, they decided to get back together and give it another go. I'm glad that they did, because I have quite enjoyed their sophomore album Towards Divine Death. You know what you're getting here, this is modern Finndeath along the lines of bands like Corpsessed and Desolate Shrine, taking the sound laid out by bands like Depravity and Convulse and giving it an extra layer of darkness and heaviness. They're maybe not the most memorable band out there, but I quite enjoy their sound, and despite this albums running time, I never get bored of it while it's playing.

Lvcifyre - Syn Eater:

Lvcifyre is yet another band in the legions of modern black/death metal that have been dominating the underground lately. This band has a bit of a different approach though, as this doesn't have much to do with the Incantation sound that has been more popular. This is more like a Morbid Angel or Angelcorpse styled death metal band with a number of influences from modern orthodox black metal. The sound is therefore much faster and more brutal sounding than a band like Grave Miasma, but there's still plenty of darkness and dissonance to keep fans of that sound occupied. This album also features guest vocals from Mark of the Devil over half of the album, whom you may recognize from the magnificent modern black metal band Cultes des Ghoules. Awesome stuff, highly recommended.

Lykathea Aflame - Elvenefris:

Lykathea Aflame is a band that receives a fair amount of praise here and elsewhere, and not without good reason. Elvenefris may be their only album to date, but it is recognized by many as the greatest death metal album of all time, which is an opinion that I share. Everything about this just blows me away, the seamless merging of brutality and melody, the unique compositions, the unbelievable atmosphere, and its immense listenability, I just never get sick of hearing this album. If nothing else, this is an incredibly varied and interesting listen that will be unlike anything else that you have ever heard. Whether you like it or not, it is worth your time to hear it at least once.

Mammoth Grinder - Underworlds:

Mammoth Grinder is a newer band with a pretty intense and menacing sound. They started out as more of a sludge/metalcore band, but have adopted a more death metal approach for their latest album, Underworlds. There is still plenty of hardcore and sludge going on here, but melded when melded with Swedish death metal, the mixture is quite potent. Catchy, heavy, and destructive, these guys should appeal both to fans of hardcore and Swedish death metal, and also fans of other recent hardcore/death metal hybrid bands like Black Breath.

Mastication - Demo #2:

The retro/old school death metal movement, in conjunction with the release of the Swedish death metal book by Daniel Ekeroth, has led to the unearthing of a great many more obscure entries in the Swedish death metal field. This is really to the benefit of everyone involved, as even lesser known demos from bands like Mastication here are still of very high quality, and if you dig the sound, there's no reason not to hear it. This is very professional sounding for a demo, and tracking down this, along with a number of compilations like it from similar bands from the same time frame, is definitely a worthwhile venture. If you don't like Swedish death metal, well, I guess that's your loss.

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I am all over the Lvcifyre album especially with the Cultes Des Ghoules involvement (well vocalist at least).  I remember that Lantern not setting my world alight (tee hee) but when I listen to that track I see no obvious reason why it shouldn't.  Will revisit at some point.

I also really enjoyed that blast from Mammoth Grinder which was unexpected.

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I am all over the Lvcifyre album especially with the Cultes Des Ghoules involvement (well vocalist at least).  I remember that Lantern not setting my world alight (tee hee) but when I listen to that track I see no obvious reason why it shouldn't.  Will revisit at some point.

I also really enjoyed that blast from Mammoth Grinder which was unexpected.

I figured Mammoth Grinder would be up your alley with how much you dig Black Breath. I'm glad some of the other ones caught your ear as well. I think I have now made a new update for each thread recently, except for the couple that I don't have more to add to at the moment (prog, industrial, melodeath, folk). If it stays slow at work, I should be able to keep up with more rounds of black and death metal for a while at least, as I never seem to run out of bands to post in those threads. I might have enough for another doom post, but thrash and power metal will have to wait again until I make more acquisitions. Anyway, all that to say that I'm always happy to do these, and if it stays slow for me, I'll keep them rolling.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Desecravity aren't really doing anything different to the plethora of tech-death bands out there. Blast beats galore, the same kind of chaotic structureless approach Spawn Of Possession cursed us with. There are a few tech-death bands I enjoy - Arsis' early material, Miseration, and Sympathy mostly, but this is the side of that subgenre I don't need in my life.

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  • 7 months later...

To give you some idea of my taste, favourite bands are Death, Carcass, Obituary & Bolt Thrower.

I don't like it too technical or extreme, and I do need some melody in there.

Also - I'm not religious, but satanic bands tend to turn me off.

Death metal is therefore a bit of a minefield for me!

Any recommendations are much appreciated.

____

moved to main recs thread 03/17 - FA

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I'd recommend going through the thread we have stickied at the top of this section - there are video links (mostly courtesy of BAN) that cover a lot of ground, and even if you don't end up liking some of it, it's worth hearing. Based on this and your other posts, you should check out the first two Atheist albums, truly phenomenal early progressive DM with a bit of thrash influence; Brutality's "Screams Of Anguish"; Ripping Corpse's "Dreaming With The Dead"; and the first two Nocturnus albums maybe. I've been on a huge Finnish DM kick lately and there's some stuff in there that might appeal to you as well. I'll think of more after I've finished my coffee. But really, go through that thread.

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  • 10 months later...

I think we're about overdue for another round of these, since it's been a year and a half since my last addition. This is the one that seems to be getting the most attention lately, so I'll start here:

Maveth - Coils of the Black Earth:

Maveth is a newer Finnish death metal band that uses a more blackened approach than many of their contemporaries. It still falls more toward the death metal side of the black/death equation, so I'm placing them here instead of in the black metal section. This doesn't have much in common with the classic bestial black/death sound that Finland is known for, rather occupying similar ground to bands like newer Behemoth. There are lots of blast beats and aggression on display, but also murky depths to explore within their compositions, so it's not the snooze-fest that bands like Belphegor would employ. Finland has made quite the comeback in the death metal world in recent years, and this band is a great example of how their scene is expanding and churning out lots of great material. They split up after a subsequent EP release, so we likely won't be hearing more from Maveth, but Coils of the Black Earth is a great modern black/death album that fans of the style should enjoy.

Misery Index - Traitors:

 

Misery Index is a band that was born from former members of Dying Fetus, but their sound is less brutal/slam influenced and has a heavier influence from grindcore in their death/grind formula. Taking their name from the Assuck's final album, they still balance death metal and grindcore well and belong in discussions of both. Unlike Dying Fetus, where their focus on overt heaviness and chugging detracts from the music itself, Misery Index writes pretty catchy and memorable songs for a death/grind band without sacrificing any intensity. I don't usually like modern albums in this style, but Misery Index delivers with great songs and plenty of punch where most bands fail to capture the fury they attempt to display on the surface. 

Mithras - Worlds Beyond the Veil:

Mithras is a UK death metal band that hasn't been making as many waves as I feel they should, based on their expansive and original take on the genre. If you were to try to briefly characterize the band, a good description would be that Mithras sounds like Morbid Angel's Covenant recorded by aliens, but there's more than that going on here. That influence is pretty easy to hear, but the band has a much larger emphasis on elongated atmospheric passages and expansive and major key melodies in many places. The feeling here is more triumphant than brutal, despite the staggering speed at which it's played, painting quite the grandiose picture throughout the run-time of the album. This is a must hear for fans of adventurous death metal such as Lykathea Aflame and !T.O.O.H.!, and fans of the heavier side of melodic death metal would probably find this enjoyable as well. A bit over the top and hard to swallow at first, but give it time to sink in and it will transport you to other planes.

Mitochondrion - Parasignosis:

Mitochondrion is one of the brightest stars in the modern black/death metal constellation as far as I'm concerned. While they channel a lot of the staggering brutality of the early Canadian scene from which they hail, they also progress the sound into the deep and experimental recesses also explored by the likes of Portal and Ulcerate, creating a sound that's as punishing as it is chaotic. There are a lot of layers to peel through with this one, their sound cascading as a storm that is difficult to navigate as it pummels your senses while you try to find your through it. Allowing yourself to be swept up in the tempest of Mitochondrion is quite the rewarding experience, especially as you unfold further layers on repeat listens. Highly recommended.

Molested - Blod-Draum

Molested is but one of many Norwegian death metal bands forgotten to the annuls of history because of being overshadowed (in terms of popularity anyway) by their black metal scene. I'm not sure why most fans can't just enjoy both scenes, because they were both incredible, with Molested's Blod-Draum being among my favorite albums that the country ever produced. You will recognize the name Oystein Brun because he founded the much more popular band Borknagar, but as much as I enjoy many of that band's albums, this is Oystein's best work to me. His style that he developed in Borknagar can still be found here, with some folky progressions buried beneath an absolutely suffocating barrage of guitars and drums. Their subtlety may be their strength, never overbearing and detracting from the nasty death metal on the surface, but providing a cool subtext that sets them apart. This is fantastic material that doesn't deserve to be forgotten, if you like dark European death metal, you absolutely have to hear this.

Monstrosity - Millenium:

Monstrosity seems to serve as a footnote for most supposed "death metal fans" as the first band of one George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher, but they're so much more than that. After debuting with the devastating and professional Imperial Doom, they refined their craft to embody more of an early technical death metal sound on their second album Millenium. As this was before the advent of modern wank-death, this is technical without being overly indulgent and relies on the strength of their riffs and compositions, simply using a more elevated and proficient musical style to achieve their brutal ends. This is a precision assault on all fronts, with Corpsegrinder sounding better here than anywhere else IMO, and a rhythm section that is swarming with killer guitar and drums lines. One listen to this, and you'll be saying "Cannibal who?"

Morbus Chron - Sweven:

Morbus Chron is quite the interesting new Swedish death metal band. Their first album was steeped in the retro glory of the old-school Swedish death metal trend that is still fairly popular since its initial resurgence, but it was still forward thinking compared to their compatriots. With the second album Sweven, Morbus Chron embraced those forward thinking elements to create a psychedelic progressive death metal masterpiece that doesn't really sound like anyone else. The name Sweven meaning "slumber", this album does seem to explore the space between our waking minds and the wild world of our dreams, masterfully bouncing from delicate to haunting and heavy sounds seamlessly. An impressively mature offering from such a young band, it's unfortunate that they disbanded recently and probably won't be granting us a followup. At least they went out on quite the high note, I can't fault them for their departure since they gave us Sweven before they left. 

Morgion - Gods of Death & Disease:

(moderator's note: I couldn't find a video to replace the original which was removed from youtube)

Morgion is one of the most recognizable names within the world of US doom/death, and rightfully so with the small, but sterling discography that they left us. Before they developed a taste for stunning atmospheric compositions on phenomenal albums like Solinari, they were a killer straight up death metal band in their early days. Dark Descent Records was nice enough to collect these recordings onto a compilation for us, which is very much their style, and I'm grateful for it. I don't think this will ever take the place of Morgion's definitive recordings, it is a great look into their early days and what might have been had they stayed this course. They were really great at playing death metal before adding doom to the proceedings, with a style that sounds much more Swedish or Finnish than American, and I'm not complaining about that. If you want to hear where this band was before they changed sounds, or if you just enjoy dark and heavy death metal, this is well worth your time to hear.

Necrovation - Necrovation:

Neuraxis - Truth Beyond...:

 

Neuraxis is one of the longer running technical death metal acts from Canada, a second generation band that clearly owes a great deal to the likes of Cryptopsy and early Kataklysm. They're a lot more progressive and melodic sounding than either of those bands though, with their debut album almost qualifying as a brutal/melodic death metal album, and their musicianship and intricate songwriting approach has only grown from there. Truth Beyond... is probably my favorite album of theirs, being quite punishing and also quite memorable and catchy. I think if more technical death metal bands from this era could capture this kind of quality without getting lost in a sea of mostly unrelated riffs, we would all be better for it.

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^^^ Great post. "Parasignosis" is a favorite of mine for that style. I had a Misery Index demo (or some early recording) that I liked a lot years ago, but some of their material lost me and I just never went back. The new Mithras album  "On Strange Loops" is getting a lot of praise from people I know online - it didn't quite click for me, but I can tell there's a lot that would probably make more sense after a few listens. I'm stoked on Monstrosity, and I've seen a bit of a groundswell of enthusiasm for them in comment threads on FB, so hopefully more people are picking up on them. I'm honestly surprised you like Neuraxis, not that there's anything wrong with that, it just seems like the kind of modern DM that would turn you off. I dig that album, but I think "A Passage Into Forlorn" is my favorite. I hadn't heard of Molested, and I'm really looking forward to checking that out.

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^^^ Great post. "Parasignosis" is a favorite of mine for that style. I had a Misery Index demo (or some early recording) that I liked a lot years ago, but some of their material lost me and I just never went back. The new Mithras album  "On Strange Loops" is getting a lot of praise from people I know online - it didn't quite click for me, but I can tell there's a lot that would probably make more sense after a few listens. I'm stoked on Monstrosity, and I've seen a bit of a groundswell of enthusiasm for them in comment threads on FB, so hopefully more people are picking up on them. I'm honestly surprised you like Neuraxis, not that there's anything wrong with that, it just seems like the kind of modern DM that would turn you off. I dig that album, but I think "A Passage Into Forlorn" is my favorite. I hadn't heard of Molested, and I'm really looking forward to checking that out.

 

I seem to remember you saying that Mitochondrion didn't click with you some time ago, did something change? I'm not complaining, they're fucking fantastic. Misery Index was a name I had heard forever, but I never listened because of the Dying Fetus connection, and I'm really not into that band. I don't know how the rest of their albums are, but Traitors is pretty great. I first heard Mithras on a sampler, but never grabbed one of their albums until I got this one for free when I bought Ulcerate's debut. A pretty sweet deal, since I like the Mithras album even better than the one from Ulcerate. As someone who isn't into Covenant, I'm not surprised that they don't click with you, but give this album a try and see what you think. The constituent parts have a lot of similarities, but the end result is very different, they opt for a much more epic and atmospheric sound using those some of the same tools. I remember RE you being keen on that Monstrosity album, so that one wasn't a surprise, but I was kind of surprised that you hadn't heard Molested because of the Borknagar connection. With how much you've been digging into Finndeath, I think it will be a winner, even if it is quite different from that scene. That comp with the first 3 Neuraxis albums was another freebie I got a few years ago, and it didn't click with me until recently. I usually don't like that kind of death metal, but something about them works for me above many other bands in that sound.

 

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^^^ Great post. "Parasignosis" is a favorite of mine for that style. I had a Misery Index demo (or some early recording) that I liked a lot years ago, but some of their material lost me and I just never went back. The new Mithras album  "On Strange Loops" is getting a lot of praise from people I know online - it didn't quite click for me, but I can tell there's a lot that would probably make more sense after a few listens. I'm stoked on Monstrosity, and I've seen a bit of a groundswell of enthusiasm for them in comment threads on FB, so hopefully more people are picking up on them. I'm honestly surprised you like Neuraxis, not that there's anything wrong with that, it just seems like the kind of modern DM that would turn you off. I dig that album, but I think "A Passage Into Forlorn" is my favorite. I hadn't heard of Molested, and I'm really looking forward to checking that out.

 

I would definitely suggest checking out the others from this batch too. I don't know if they'll all be winners, but I would think that Morbus Chron at least would be a winner from this batch, and maybe Maveth and Necrovation.

 

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On 7/16/2017 at 10:34 PM, BlutAusNerd said:

Monstrosity - Millenium:

Monstrosity seems to serve as a footnote for most supposed "death metal fans" as the first band of one George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher, but they're so much more than that. After debuting with the devastating and professional Imperial Doom, they refined their craft to embody more of an early technical death metal sound on their second album Millenium. As this was before the advent of modern wank-death, this is technical without being overly indulgent and relies on the strength of their riffs and compositions, simply using a more elevated and proficient musical style to achieve their brutal ends. This is a precision assault on all fronts, with Corpsegrinder sounding better here than anywhere else IMO, and a rhythm section that is swarming with killer guitar and drums lines. One listen to this, and you'll be saying "Cannibal who?"

 

On 7/16/2017 at 10:48 PM, FatherAlabaster said:

I'm stoked on Monstrosity, and I've seen a bit of a groundswell of enthusiasm for them in comment threads on FB, so hopefully more people are picking up on them.

Have to admit that I've never really bothered to investigate Monstrosity before. Would seem I need to remedy that - excellent track there.

Excellent description too I might add!

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    • Full length number 19 from overkill certainly makes a splash in the energy stakes, I mean there's some modern thrash bands that are a good two decades younger than Overkill who can only hope to achieve the levels of spunk that New Jersey's finest produce here.  That in itself is an achievement, for a band of Overkill's stature and reputation to be able to still sound relevant four decades into their career is no mean feat.  Even in the albums weaker moments it never gets redundant and the energy levels remain high.  There's a real sense of a band in a state of some renewed vigour, helped in no small part by the addition of Jason Bittner on drums.  The former Flotsam & Jetsam skinsman is nothing short of superb throughout "The Wings of War" and seems to have squeezed a little extra out of the rest of his peers.

      The album kicks of with a great build to opening track "Last Man Standing" and for the first 4 tracks of the album the Overkill crew stomp, bash and groove their way to a solid level of consistency.  The lead work is of particular note and Blitz sounds as sneery and scathing as ever.  The album is well produced and mixed too with all parts of the thrash machine audible as the five piece hammer away at your skull with the usual blend of chugging riffs and infectious anthems.  


      There are weak moments as mentioned but they are more a victim of how good the strong tracks are.  In it's own right "Distortion" is a solid enough - if not slightly varied a journey from the last offering - but it just doesn't stand up well against a "Bat Shit Crazy" or a "Head of a Pin".  As the album draws to a close you get the increasing impression that the last few tracks are rescued really by some great solos and stomping skin work which is a shame because trimming of a couple of tracks may have made this less obvious. 

      4/5
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