Aaaahh! I remember that day.......the first listen to Bolt Thrower’s awesome Warmaster release, the look on my dad’s face when playing Cenotaph full blast whilst the queen was laying wreaths at the cenotaph (he wasn’t best pleased I may add), and the exclamation that there was a “bird” playing bass........those were the days!!!
Thankfully, due to old school death metal lovers Warmaster, from the Netherlands, you can happily enjoy these times again in the present! Formed in 2004, and inspired by the aforementioned band, coupled with some elements of the groove from Six Feet Under; these boys have come up with a fairly enjoyable slab or rumbling death! Yeah......sure the music is well rooted in the early nineties, and we may not be treading new ground here, but frankly....it is played well, so there shouldn’t be too many gripes. This is crushing, mid-paced metal that deserves to dislodge a few upper vertebrae with a grimacing, gleeful grin on one’s face. And the eight tracks that are on this release will just about keep you interested all the way through (however, a few more lead breaks could have held a little more interest in some of the songs, as some of the riffs can sound a little samey at times – a minor issue nonetheless).
“Testimony From the Grave” powers up like Michael Ironside about to turn your head into Passata in a random Scanners moment of violence, before the heavy, drawling guitars kick in with the tone that you would expect from a band that have a huge stiffy for Nottinghamshire’s finest. A fine turn, and this coupled with a catchy, crushing riff to close.....these boys are sounding impressive.
“Silent Scream” opens up with a doomy riff that quickly builds into a section that is also reminiscent of one of our other midland bands, “Benediction”, with the well delivered vocals rumbling away impressively on the surface.
Amazingly, for a band that has so many clear cut influences, they’re not generic to the point of boredom. Due to the lack of bands out there at the moment who are willing to take on the mantle of the grinding death, war obsessed metal, Warmaster have produced a good album that is enjoyable, and one which certainly provides a springboard for them in the future.
Both “Psychological Suffering”, with the warped vocal mid section interspersed amongst guitars which sound like 18 pound shells exploding around your feet, and “In Cold Blood” with the regimental like guitar workings that are oh so much fun to hear are also great tracks, leading into the closing track of “First War”; the long opus of “1914” which is not too far off the grinding attrition of trench warfare.
Warmaster ply good ,enjoyable death that’s fun for the whole family, and for those of you out there who can’t get enough of your Bolt Thrower, Benediction or even Massacre, then look no further – just don’t expect a re-invention of the wheel!
http://www.myspace.com/warmasterdeathmetal
http://www.warmaster.nl
http://www.dutchmetalrecords.com
