Another one-album-wonder comes to mind, one that I have forgotten about although I did listen to it a lot some 20 years ago when I got a hold of it. In fact, this is one of the finest albums to ever come out of the very prolific, both quality and quantity-wise, Dutch scene. Unlike most of the outfits from there, which had their eye on the technical/progressive side of the spectre, our friends here opted for a more direct, heavier, and generally more aggressive approach producing an admirable squashing steam-roller in the process.
The guys initially chose the name Assassin, but since it was already taken earlier by the German thrashers, they had to think of something else despite having released three demos under that moniker. No big deal, and right on time as the contract for a full-length appeared coinciding with the dawn of a new decade, one that wouldn’t be the hottest place for old school metal advocates…
Not that these five “flying” Dutchmen worried too much about that as they shot their retro thrash visions with all the force and vigour they could muster, 45-min of seismic crushing guitars, galvanizing, slowly built speedy crescendos, and marginally more complex configurations. The overall delivery is a mix of Devastation’s “Idolatry”, Sepultura’s “Beneath the Remains”, and Slayer’s late-80’s period, but excluding the dominant, very fast-paced moments from the first two. In other words, the album is not constructed on maddening, highly energetic riff-patterns the whole time; it’s a patiently woven tapestry of prevalently volcanic, mid-tempo riffage with frequent sudden, sometimes not quite heralded, outbursts of aggression.
The opus comes with a crystal clear sound quality with clicking and clocking guitars, with every single instrument very articulately heard as evident from the messing... sorry, moshing “Messina” which doesn’t hold back on any faster-paced moments, and can rightfully be considered the deviant here, a moshing headbanger nearly reaching “Reign in Blood”-esque fever pitch in the middle, another reference to the Slayers being the chaotic, screamy leads. “Attempted Suicide” attempts to change the course with more technical decisions, and succeeds although the speedier ways of execution still find some room to bang the head among the more stylish implements. “Nothing Will Change” expectedly doesn’t change the formula too much, but its energetic earth-shaking riffs will leave no one unmoved with excellent, more proficient leads making a fine showing in the middle, plus a breeze of smattering vigorous gallops towards the end.
The title-track is a furious mosher, the other prevalently speedy piece, an immediate ripping winner, but “Who’s for Dinner” shows the band’s more ambitious, more serious side with carefully plotted arrangements, gradually building suspense from the doom-laden intro to the impetuous galloping strides, to the more dramatic, nearly deathy, accumulations, a shredfest of the highest order the intense, forceful semi-shouty vocals making the situation even more intimidating. “Drop Dead” pounds the listener into oblivion with some of the heaviest riffs around before a surprising more technical skirmish makes things even tastier. The atmospheric balladic intro of “Deathrow” is another stylish touch although later serenities of the kind are nowhere to be found this short number vintage early speed metal, leaving the more aggressive, also more elaborate, exploits for “Ritual Killings” the guys thrashing with vision, predating the more complex feats of Heathen and Dark Angel by one year with a wide gamut of time and tempo changes, the interesting cannonade interrupted by a really cool lead-driven, balladic interlude. “The Commencement” is actually the finale, a short brisk, all-instrumental speedster, a compelling combination of speed and technicality.
Provided that Devastation’s “Idolatry”, a very similarly-styled effort, was released a year later, this instalment could be viewed as one of the most important heavy aggressive thrashterpieces of the late-80’s/early-90’s after Sepultura’s mentioned magnum opus, topping the group of the so-called “near-death experience” thrash metal opuses; ones that hadn’t crossed the line towards pure death metal yet, and yet sounded more brutal than your average bashing thrash metal recording. In a way similar to Exhorder, the guys could have translated their ultra-heavy sound for the 90’s generation, but apparently they saw no reason why they should continue fighting an already lost war for territory under the groovy, post-thrashy sun.
Sample: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
