Out of the ashes of Damage rose Deathstorm, an Austrian trio that give more than a passing nod to the 80’s German thrash legends they worship. Be assured that if you still enjoy ‘Endless Pain’ you should grab this album. The production feel is definitely from 30 years ago, but then so is the raw aggression which they have managed to capture and put on “tape”.
The album opens with a quote from ‘The Beyond’ rather appropriately for a tale of zombies on “Awakening Of The Dead”. Mac’s vocals are the epitome of Mille’s with raspy anger spilling over to high pitched venom.
The lyrics for “Red Blood Spillage” aren’t overly complex, but they don’t need to be to carry their tune on the steady rhythm played by Mani’s drums and Ferl’s guitar, with a slicing lead that hits notes that could shred eardrums at higher volumes.
Mac’s bass is used more for rhythm than just bottom end and on “Prepare For The Slaughter” all out speed, which it wouldn’t be able to keep up with were it to be popping and rumbling the way it does on the intro of “Await The Edged Blades”, but once the song kicks into full swing it’s just a high speed thrash track with intricate guitar fills overlaid with even faster fills to full the sound out.
Owing to the fact that they don’t completely detune their instruments, they make up for any heaviness their songs lack with outright speed and “Nihilistic Delusion” is no exception in its unrelenting pace.
I was trying to recall if Sadus had an album by the same name as this song, but while close, they weren’t the same, in the same way there are also some hints at early Sadus in “Visions Of Death”, but not of Steve DiGiorgio, sadly.
I’ll be the first to admit that the instrumental “Nebelhexe” doesn’t conjure up images of fog or witches, but that’s perhaps because I’d be more inclined to link fog to broody melancholic melodies than high speed racing up and down a fret board for the leads that Ferl gets to litter the song with, owing to the lack of vocals.
“Rest” is not something you’ll get from Deathstorm, even though the drumming here isn’t as intense as it is on earlier tracks, that doesn’t mean the guitars take some time off as they just play over the drums in double-time to keep things as you’d expect them to be.
While I haven’t given them a terribly high score, primarily because they certainly cover no new ground here, they know what niche they are trying to capitalise on and do that really well.
(5/10 – Marco Gaminara)
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