Thick, grunty mid-paced old school death metal, done in the Swedish way, coming out at you from the mean streets of, erm…Holland. This is the second album from these rather brutal Dutch gentlemen, and it’s another slab of morbid, war obsessed death metal. Of course, bands that play in the style of Entombed’s rather spiffing first three albums are the new underground fad du jour, so what exactly is it that Massive Assault add to the hordes currently infesting mail order rosters?

Well, in a word, Dismember. Yep, Massive Assault divert from their multitudinous peers by having the cajones to go for the slightly more intricate melodies among the much vaunted Sunlight Studios sound. Indeed, there’s plenty more of the ear-candy here than on many of their more moribund contemporaries. There’s also some fearsome groove to be had here – not that you’re likely to be packing on your disco-gear while marvelling at the off-kilter drum work on “Operation Anthropoid”, but you are likely to find your head nodding at the thunderous riff when a particularly heavy interlude comes into town. There’s also more guitar solo’s here than on half a dozen of also-ran retro Johny (Hedlund) come lately outfits. The sound is as thick and gnarly as you would expect from modern adherents to the old school, the vocals as raw and abrasive as you would imagine, the guitars have that trademarked tree-felling buzzsaw attitude, while the bass work is as fat and greasy as a roadside burger chef. The drumming, as I have already mentioned, has a straight forward approach that often rewards the close attention of the listener with some natty little flourishes.

Not all is well though, for while the production and the musicianship can’t be faulted, and indeed the song writing is generally enough to have memorable tracks, there really isn’t any of that magic to be found here. I don’t know exactly what to call it – though I think atmosphere is probably the closest adjective I can find. There just isn’t that feeling or vibe here – and while everything sounds as frayed and scuzzy as an original 1980’s denim cut off waist coat, there’s also that nagging feeling that this the waistcoat is actually one of those pre-stitched affairs that you can buy ready-patched at the festival of your choice. That Massive Assault don’t speak to my imagination is a bit of a shame, because really, there isn’t anything else to fault with it. That being said, maybe you’ll find something here that speaks to your mind rather than mine.

(6.5/10 Chris Davison)

www.myspace.com/massiveassault