The German veterans are back once
more, this is their 7th album. Three of the tracks are
familiar from their earlier career, Death From Behind, Delos and
Spherical appeared on their first, second and fourth demos.
Definitely a good choice to include some old tunes, since the sound
of their demos wasn't the best, so just like on 2011's Go To Hell,
it's great to see these old songs getting the production they
deserve. I'd like to make an exception for Delos though, the sound of
their second demo is just perfect, and I consider it one of the
finest black/thrash treasures of the 80's. Still, I guess I'm one of
the very few people who actually have heard it at all, and Delos is
simply one of their best songs ever, so re-recording it was probably
a good move after all.
The most interesting part of this album though, is definitely the new songs. With the release of Go To Hell, the expectations were drawn towards a more old school approach, but it's actually more in the vein of their albums from released the mid 00's. Sure, the sound is more or less the same (old school as fuck), but the arrangements and lyrics are way more complex and unique. It's way more diverse as well. You've got the thrash metal rippers like Eye For An Eye and The Biggest Wrench, mid-tempo parts like The Iron Door and Chastiser, and almost outright doom-metal tunes like Be That As It May and Sepia Eyes / Birth To The Flame. Everything flows perfectly together into a wicked symphony of darkness. What also speaks for this album is the production. Especially the drum sound on Go To Hell was a bit to modern, and that decreased the overall impression a little bit, this time the sound is flawless.
Compared to Go To Hell, which was
packed to the limit with songs that knocked you out the first time
you heard them, this album will take some time to get into. But mark
my words, once you do, it becomes clear that it's actually just as
good, maybe even better, as it's predecessor. Outrage are really not
taking the easy way out with their strange song-structures and weird
lyrics, that sometimes makes no sense at all, but after all it's the
dark atmosphere and waywardness of it all that makes this band so
brilliant. I'd choose them any day before all the hordes of generic
German thrash bands doing what has already been done a thousand
times. Outrage stands supreme among all of them, and I really hope
more people will check out this album and give it the time and
attention it deserves. It will be worth it, trust me. 8/10 /H
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