Having unleashed a parasitic ‘Blood Worm’ on humanity five years ago, Kommandant scuttled back to their nuclear bunker under the Chicagoan ruins hoping for swift eradication of mankind. In the meantime, they have perfected their bodies via bio-engineering into lethal killing machines, some members being completely replaced into new forms in the process. As they emerge with grimy carapaces resembling unbreakable insectoid form, clad in gas masks to protect from all the expected toxins on planet earth, it is noticeable that the world is still inhabited by the scourge of life in all its forms. They are resigned but prepared, after all there have been 4 previous full-length campaigns and this new one shall succeed. Time to unleash the Titan Hammer.
The destruction begins with ruinous force. Blackened death reigns supreme from the thudding salvo of concussive blasts as they arrive without a shred of mercy being given. Dictator at the helm Kommandar Amon LG harangues his troops with totalitarian vocal discourse, which is vile and full bloodied, directing them to annihilate the forces desperately clinging to survival. This is a hostile deluge of lethality and decimating brute power. The guitars scythe and thrash with brackish clamour and the cries of the fallen scream like souls of the damned at the well-co-ordinated bombardment.
This is obviously grim and warmongering stuff and dispensing with any apocalyptic backdrop and narrative its themes speak for themselves. There is an occasional groove within the battling mainframe but for the most we are left in the turmoil of mangled flesh from the obliteration of this uncompromising quartet. The drummer in particular is a force of power, rattling the ground with sonic blasts and using the kick-drum to drive straight through the rib-cage. They loosen up slightly on ‘Atlantean Deathmarch’ delivering a slower yet equally unrelenting booted stomp as they stride across the globe. Even long-lost civilisations are not safe here. A huge yell of victory unpeels, echoing as this section once more crumbles. To the victors go the spoils, next stop those bastards that have a history of aggression themselves. It’s onto the ‘Siberian Overthrow’ bodies frozen in ice where they fall.
This 39-muinite campaign is a particularly vindictive one. It just flattens everything for most of the duration. The only real let up is in cold instrumental ‘Spannungsfelder’ which serves perfectly as a simple diversionary tactic ramping up the ‘areas of tension’ and making the last two numbers even more embittered and violent.
Will we survive to see a new dawn? That remains to be seen but for now anyone witnessing this rite of destruction should feel suitably devastated.
(7.5/10 Pete Woods)
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