DESASTER - The Oath of an Iron Ritual

Desaster – The Oath of an Iron Ritual (2016, Metal Blade Records)

German black/thrash/speed attack of Desaster are achieving with their eight studio album another tour-de-force that is to take old-school metal and turn it unpredictable, intense, and outstanding.

Desaster are throwing an aesthetic of second wave black metallers. But their sound is German metal if you will, a blend of early thrash metal and a speed metal à la DarkThrone and their superb The Underground Resistance. In fact, Desaster is insanely fast and the guitar riffs and solos remind of NWoBHM that made metal what it is.

There are many things to appreciate in Desaster’s new album, the fact that it is the first album I ever heard from them might be a difficult task for me to challenge their discography, the insane guitars and the vocals are not totally black or thrash but they accompany the music in its entire insanity. The drums have this raw sound of high toms and pure violence. As my colleagues of AMG stated, this is a fun album and it holds a solid stand in the Germanic Metal World.

With time, blackened thrash metal has evolved has being one of my favorite subgenre in metal. The melodic anthems of pure violence that Desaster throws out reminds me why I can’t stop listening to early Slayer, Bathory, and Sodom in my car. It might be too much for some and I agree that listening to the entire album from start to finish might be a bit overwhelming and even saturating from the assault of overdrive but this is what appeals me in this record and I really digged it.

8.2