Written By Kevin McSweeney
Death Assault album review
Oh, to be young again! To have a full head of hair to headbang with; to have a lean and pain-free body to be battered in the pit; to be slim enough to fit into a band’s merch! (Seriously, I had to buy a hat from Jess Douek of Mallavora because I couldn’t fit my elephantine bulk into any of their t-shirts!)
I remember when thrash was young. Me and Suzie probably had so much fun. I was too busy headbanging and getting battered in the pit to be worrying about who Suzie was and whether or not she was enjoying herself.
Anyway, I see these young metalheads in Plymouth, flaunting their lavish locks and toned abdomens in The Junction, or The Underground, and occasionally The Depo when they turn from the turntables and towards guitars, and I am remanded, to quote Philip Larkin:
…of the strength and pain
Of being young; that it can’t come again,
But is for others undiminished somewhere.
And now here’s the young Plymouth-based thrashers Death Assault, with their independently-released debut album, available from February 13th, to remind me once again just exactly how fucking old I am!
The band cite Lamb of God and Slipknot among their influences, and I can certainly hear the influence of both Randy Blythe and Corey Taylor in Darrell Baker’s vocal performance, the brief interludes of human fallibility amid the prevailing brutality even without resort to clean vocals being particularly reminiscent of the latter.
That’s not to say there’s no clean vocals. The hardest part of writing reviews is wracking my chimp-like brain to remember who I’m reminded of, but he reminds me of a very good singer, whoever it might be.
There’s a welcome rawness to the production that pleases me. We’re not talking about the super-sanitised slickness of Spiritbox here. Something about the organic nature of the sound captures their youthful energy and exuberance perfectly.
To quote Baker: “This album isn’t just a collection of songs. It’s a statement. This is who we are – raw and real. It’s a musical interpretation of our souls, minds, and beliefs.”
I’m sure it also captures the spirit and intensity of their live shows. I have to assume this, as I’ve not yet had the pleasure of seeing them live.
I note with interest that they’ve shared a stage with Tortured Demon, amongst others. I believe they were one of the support acts that I missed when I reviewed the Oldham thrashers’ performance at The Junction. Plymouth’s public transport leaves a lot to be desired, alas.
Ashes of Reality, which opens proceedings after the eerie intro, would not sound out of place on Sepultura’s Beneath The Remains, with its intensity, iron-clad riffing and dirt-under-the-fingernails approach.
Replaced reminds me of Corrosion of Conformity at the point in the mid 1990s when they allowed a bit of groove to infuse their crossover thrash sound.
Gen Z metalheads would be shocked to be informed of a time when it was a big deal for Metallica to move away from the militaristic nature of their percussion to add a bit of groove to proceedings on 2X4.
There were other controversies aside drummed up by the Load album, of course, and we hadn’t then been subjected to the horrors of the St Anger snare sound.
We Will Remain bears a strong groove metal influence – I remind you of their citing of Lamb of God. There’s some dreamy, almost psychedelic arpeggios and clean vocals in the middle.
Does an element of Pantera’s This Love creep into proceedings? There are occasional forays into black metal blast beats. They’re showing themselves to possess great dexterity, and are doing themselves a disservice by simply defining their sound as thrash.
There’s an anthemic intro to Falling Down – a song that shares a name with one of my favourite movies from the 1990s – coupled with a tasty little ghost-note groove that alternates with sheer brutality.
We also have a middle section that is a try-not-to-headbang challenge all of itself.
Things get really interesting on Pro Crisis, however, where, following the ominous bass and pounding toms intro, we get some sexy four-string fingerwork, and some jazzy ride cymbal, that reminds me of progressive death metal pioneers Cynic.
An anthemic coda brings us to Lament of The Insane (interlude). If it’s not a clip from a horror movie, it should be.
My Insanity opens, and closes, as it transpires, with fricative vocals that once again evoke Corey Taylor. After an intro of not-so-clean arpeggios, we have the clanging ride cymbal cup and pounding toms combo that says you’re going to die in the pit!
We have black metal blast beats and tremolo picking, and some catchy lead guitar in the chorus.
There’s a Middle Eastern style riff in there, as well as some marching band snare. (We get quite a bit of that. Plymouth is a garrison city, after all.)
Whisper it, but there’s a bit of a nu-metal vibe to Forgotten at times. We have another bass intro and ghost-note driven groove, which soon gives way to thrash.
I’ve probably upset them enough at this stage, so I might as well mention that there’s a riff in there that reminds me of their fellow Devonians Muse. Sorry, guys!
We have more marching band snare from Levi Spry and yet more evidence that Baker is a fine singer as well as a top-notch extreme metal vocalist.
There’s much more evidence in the following song, Winds of The Past, which, for the most part, is actually melodic.
I can only describe it as a cross between Metallica’s Welcome Home Sanitarium and Pantera’s Hollow. The heaviness is used sparingly, and it’s actually quite beautiful.
They conclude their self-titled album with a self-titled song, and why not? It worked for Iron Maiden.
Hopefully, it will become as emphatic a statement and show closer for them as it has been for the NWOBHM giants. It’s a return to the heaviness, of course. It’s a barnstorming way to conclude the album after the tenderness of the previous track, and it brings to a close a promising debut.
There’s no attempt to reinvent the wheel, nor indeed the steel here, if you’ll excuse the nod to Pantera’s final album.
It’s a fine slab of extremity based on the old-school thrash metal blueprint, but embellished with a sprinkling of the subgenres that have risen to prominence since the heady days of the Bay Area scene.
In this Death Assault album review they have challenged the mighty Warcrab’s position as Plymouth’s foremost extreme metal outfit, and they’ve made me feel very proud, and very old.
Metal Lair awards Death Assault by Death Assault four out of five devil horns
Tracklisting:
1. The Masterpiece of Murder (Sample Intro)
2. Ashes of Reality
3. Replaced
4. We Will Remain
5. Falling Down
6. Pro Crisis
7. Lament of The Insane (Interlude)
8. My Insanity
9. Forgotten
10. Winds of The Past
11. Death Assault
Line-up:
Darrell Baker – Vocals
Bill Mander – Guitar
Jake Ackrell – Guitar
Wiktor Osiecki – Bass
Levi Spry – Drums
DEATH ASSAULT ONLINE
Read More From This Author: Seven Deadly Songs Weekly Roundup
About The Author
Kevin McSweeney is Metal Lair’s resident scribe of the underground, eternally rummaging through the global metal scene for riffs worth your time.
As the guiding hand behind Seven Deadly Songs every Friday, he has an uncanny knack for finding the track you didn’t know you needed, usually before finishing his pint.
Equal parts loyal, kind, and quietly razor-witted, Kevin brings deep knowledge, impeccable taste, and a steady, reliable presence to Metal Lair
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