It’s been all quiet on the Endstille front for the past decade since the release of ‘Kapitulation’ back in 2013. They did actually capitulate and had an album all lined up in 2015 called ‘Finis Germaniae’ but apparently decided it did not represent what they have done in the past and scrapped it. This kind of makes you wonder what direction it took them in but I guess we will never know. The good news is that ‘DetoNation’ sounds exactly like one would expect from the German warmongers, albeit with a couple of surprises thrown into the seething trench for good measure. If you are looking for music that represents the savagery and pointlessness of war it’s all here, expect a solid shelling and you won’t be disappointed.
With members from the last release seemingly intact and with new label Ván Records behind them, the first thing to acknowledge is just how hungry the band sound after their time AWOL. ‘New World Lethargy’ is anything but, Mayhemic Destructor’s drum battery a formidable driving force along with Zingultus’ ghastly blood-curdling rasps. This is the sound of a band going over the top. But wait a minute what is this? All of a sudden the battlefield smoke clears with a melodic guitar melody that sounds like it has escaped from a post black metal band’s armoury. Honestly it took me quite by surprise and reminded me of someone like Fen but after the brief diversification on the opener they thunder back in and pulverise. A Stuka literally dive-bombs and the drive is enforced on the mania of ‘Jericho Howls’ with its urgent craggy snarl enticing troops to ‘Attack Attack’ There are some spoken parts through the album providing momentary atmospheric bouts of fear for those not fully enticed by the mayhem and the video-clip below should give you an indication just what to expect. The master-plan which is ‘Tochnit Aleph’ slows things down and coats things with a moribund sense of futility. War is hell after all and this suits the mood perfectly replicating the tragedy of lives lost and destroyed along with some backing chanting choral parts for good measure. We get shorter and vitriolic thumpers such as ‘Destined To Silence’ along with longer embittered justice served out on ‘Vigilante Justice’ tightening noose with strangulating guitar melody.
After a couple of listens I found the tracks growing by stature on each listen and becoming nothing short of addictive. There’s a melody on ‘Pro Patria Mori’ which sounds somewhat familiar due to its progressive thrust and is all the more enticing for it and these spill over into ‘Victorious’ the hook-laden groove enticing even if I can’t quite put my finger on exactly who they remind me of. Long term fans should not be put off by a slight feeling of the band opening up and trying a couple of new things, the viciousness is never toned down even amidst the gloom and doom that numbers like this also exude. Besides there’s always the title track to pull you back into a seething, mangled pit of carnage and confronting this is like being thrust into the shrapnel of an exploding grenade. As historical observers would expect there is a self-named track ‘Endstille (Weltkrieg)’ to close proceedings. The fury relents and let’s just say it resembles a death-march and a fitting last gasp of this otherwise embittered campaign.
Apparently it was also back in 2013 that Endstille played London at the Electrowerkz, DetoNation has made me very hungry for a return performance. Fingers crossed they invade again.
(8.5/10 Pete Woods)
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