This German black thrash band has an extensive discography with eight previous albums, numerous splits and EPs and a slew of live albums too and despite this fact are probably still as underground now as they ever were, though with an expanding fan base this will only be improved further with this ninth full length. Nothing in Desaster’s discography is poor every release offers their own brand of blackened thrash as the recent albums have seen the band polish their craft with the last two albums being particularly formidable as I especially adore their 2012 effort ‘The Art Of Destruction’ though 2016’s The Oath Of An Iron Ritual’ was devastating also.
With a sombre intro piece, ‘The Grace Of Sin’, the album leads off properly with ‘Learn To Love The Void’ and sees the bands trademark abrasive riffing style being enhanced by the substantial production afforded. Old thrashers that loved the raw unfettered Germanic style of the early 80s will adopt this album as their new offspring but of course it sounds a whole lot better as the pacing has that neck snapping quality this genre absolutely requires. ‘Falling Trinity’ follows brandishing a proper old school thrash approach with bracing shifts of pace and a healthy dosing of speed metal riffing of the vitriolic nature.
‘Exile Is Imminent’ is an immense track and my favourite here wielding a big change in riff style with its melodic toning and atmospheric charm coupled to the bass and drum work which lift the song gradually with each passing second towards a fantastic riff change that is superbly catchy. You get that sense the song is building towards something which it does by unveiling a frosty bleak riff and devastating carpet bombing drum demolition. The songs inherent catchiness is driven by the drum work which carries you along with bludgeoning effectiveness even when the tempo shifts slightly.
The title track slows things down hugely expanding the song length with a bell toll, melancholic riff and cymbal work. The atmospherics of the song cascade out via another blackened riff manoeuvre and whilst I expected the song to detonate, it doesn’t, preferring to instil a sort of doomy black aura with deep vocals. Returning to ferocity is ‘Hellputa’ a crust laden filth mongering tune that typifies this bands dirty approach to song writing. The kick drum work feels manic courtesy of new skin beater Marco Hontheim who makes his mark enormously on this album with his considerable skill but especially his footwork.
With a brief vocal diatribe opening ‘Sadistic Salvation’ the song unleashes an explosive blasted section as fast as anything you’re likely to hear in this genre, its sheer hostility and rancour is tangible oozing a corrupted malevolence. Even the slower phase has an intrinsic sense of horror as it is quickly followed by ‘Armed Architects Of Annihilation’ an apt title for a band with riffs to pierce armour plating. The song adopts a heavy metal styling here through the opening riffing and kick drum beat and rumbling bass infestation will have you thinking about early 80s UK metal bands Venom, Motörhead, Tank and their ilk. The crashing speed change is expected of course as the song slides into proper black thrash with acerbic vocals though that straight metal quotient still lingers to some degree.
The epic ‘Endless Awakening’ gets a mention because we get a departure again offering moody acoustic guitar work that ensures the song has a certain gravitas. This elongated passage eventually surrenders to the metal riffing where an isolated grieving riff starts up and joined by a much slower pacing strategy. For some reason I kept thinking about Swedish act Thyrfing due to the pagan like quality the song possesses especially with the very cool tempo modification that really enhances the songs melody leaving only ‘Aus Asche’ to close the album. Again this is very different and another favourite for me and listens like a very long outro piece with semi acoustic structuring and bass pulses producing a morose closer. There is an old school black metal quality to this song similar to acts like Enslaved and Satyricon on their very early releases, its tuneful approach is blended with whispered vocals for a ghostly ambience and left me thinking that Desaster’s ninth album is as diverse as it is pulverising.
(9.5/10 Martin Harris)
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