Obviously intent on giving me a sound thrashing this is one of a couple of albums landing on the doormat here just before Xmas from Great Dane. Endbroken are a French quintet who are basically starting out having just released an EP and single prior to this, their debut album. The post-apocalyptic art-work sets the scene and as the jagged chords of opener ‘Hate Field’ spill out the speakers this impresses with its chunky sound and galloping fervour. Thrash, death metal and a fair bit of groove are all components here and this sounds way more professional than one might expect as according to the info I can find it’s only the vocalist Mitch who has previously been in other bands. As for his parts they are suitably growly and fierce, as well as just on the verge of being understandable, adding to the cut and thrust of the music neatly.

A spiralling guitar solo takes us into ‘Axes Of Evil’ (and I checked spelling expecting Axis to be a better fit). The melody is tight from the guitar department, speed slightly slower allowing the grooves to cut through. It’s quite accessible stuff and easy to get hooked on this and find yourself wanting to be thrown around a pit to the likes of ‘Straight Ahead’ with its burly, pumped up and muscular sound. The yells of “die” don’t do it any disfavour either.

This is the third CD in a row I have received with an instrumental track thrown in around the half-way mark. Here it’s the album title number and showcases the talent of the players admirably. However, at near to the eight minute-mark some may well think common sense has been defeated and the band may have overstretched just what the listener is comfortable with putting their own indulgencies first. That said, it’s not a bad track at all and kind of fits in with the dystopian vibe of the cover-art and should musically appeal to fans of bands such as Slayer, Metallica and The Haunted.

After this slight diversification we whiplash into ‘Shadows Of Death’ and furiously romp away through a few more bangers designed to get the blood pumping. Of these, stand-out ‘Cannibal Holy Ghost’ is a seething neck-cracker of a track and a good starting point for those looking for a quick blast of fury. Endbroken have a good debut here and one with plenty of strengths to build upon. Firmly residing on the death metal side of things without any tendencies towards on trend, party thrash styles ‘Defeat Of Common Sense’ keeps things on point and delivers a raging slab of chugging venom.

(7/10 Pete Woods)

https://www.facebook.com/endbroken

https://greatdanerecords.bandcamp.com/album/defeat-of-common-sense