Name checking some of the most awesome death metal bands in the PR material had me wanting to hear this. This is a project born during the pandemic, old school death metal akin to Massacre, Death, Cancer and Bolt Thrower, all checked and approved! Based in Germany, Johan de Jager provides all the instruments with vocals provided by newcomer Justus Meineke.
Opener ‘Shock and Awe’ has all the blueprints, a stellar production, riff after riff, pounding drums with varying tempos and a growling apocalyptic vocal delivery that crosses classic with more recent death metal growls. ‘Counterstrike’ sounds like old Master and Massacre, the riff and feel, its sounds a touch vintage and in fact, a modern one man of many talents Rogga Johannsson (Ribspreader, Paganizer et al.) may be an influence. Continuing on this one, we have a melodic blast of a solo too, slightly louder in the mix, but you still get the foundations of death metal coming through your speakers. ‘Hideous Reprisal’ adds vigour and speed, is about the right length, but abruptly ends on the CD copy! ‘Perpetual Torment’ gets earthy, slower and grinds out the last breath of humanity, then kicks into gear with much gusto along with the album title track ‘Fake Salvation’, which has a great breakdown at the end of the track. ‘Mental Monstrosity’ and ‘Raining Lead’ both take you to England and the land of Bolt Thrower. ‘Stabbing Frenzy’ for me has some odd time signatures in places, but gets you into a groove without any major issues whatsoever. You will be sliced and diced for the party with the thunderous closer ‘Voracious Butchering’. This is rabid, harsh, and a fine way to end a very strong and consistent release.
You may not find anything out of the box, but there is a special nod to the old school in terms of death metal masters. The package overall is frightfully blistering, authentic and a real pain in the arse for your neighbours should you so choose.
(8.5/10 Paul Maddison)
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