Nuke ‘em all, eh? Yes, very clever, see what you did there chaps. Despite the impressive cover art, there’s a distinct whiff of almost deliberate meatheadedness wafting from this latest effort from Germany’s very own Darkmoon Warrior. The album title is daft, certainly but it’s with the strains of the imaginatively-titled opening track ‘Fuck Off’ that the silly-o-meter goes firmly into the red. Sounding for all the world like some sort of Impaled Nazarene B-side, it’s a ropey way to start the album (the chorus of ‘Fuck Off! Fuck Off! Fuck Off! We don’t care!!!’ is a head-in-hand moment) – perhaps it’s a way for the band to showcase the punkish tendencies that have always floated on the periphery of lo-fi black metal but it doesn’t really work here, the basic riffing and comical vocal lines raising little more than strained mirth.
It’s a shame as it isn’t really representative of what Darkmoon Warrior are capable of as they shift gear considerably with second song ‘Satanification’, slicing the ears with a frenzied melodic attack that reeks of ‘Inquisitors of Satan’-era Deathspell Omega. The rest of the album delivers on this promise, presenting us with perfectly serviceable Black Fucking Metal. No-frills stuff for sure but as I’ve argued before, when this sort of uncompromising material is delivered with power and conviction, the sheer bloody-minded adrenalin rush of the experience can be enough to see it through.
That’s Darkmoon Warrior’s strength in a nutshell – when they are going full-speed ahead on tracks such as ‘The Call’ or ‘Waves of Salvation’, one gets swept along on vigorous whirlwinds of aggression. Relentless blasts, buzzsaw guitars and barked vocal commands. Textbook stuff. It’s only when they slow down a little that the inconsistencies in their songwriting become more noticeable – ‘Black Tongues and Rusty Nails’ and ‘Souls on Fire’ being significantly weaker than the speedier tracks. Here, the three-piece lose momentum – it’s admirable that they’re attempting to mix up the dynamics but they may be better off sticking to their strengths.
Competent as they are, it’s clear that Darkmoon Warrior aren’t really in the same field as similarly-minded blastfiends such as Marduk or Setherial, let alone the upper reaches of what this genre can really achieve. Granted, these guys are not in any way attempting to reinvent the wheel so can’t be condemned for not demonstrating a single second of originality. So with this in mind, ‘Nuke ‘em All’ passes the time adequately and boasts a few moments of genuine viciousness but in all honesty, it is pretty inessential stuff.
(6/10 Frank Allain)
https://www.facebook.com/DarkmoonWarrior
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