Having long been a fan of old German thrash and in particular the speed metal sub-genre I awaited the arrival of Assassin’s last album “The Club” with bated anticipation only to shrug my shoulders and wished they’d not bothered to reform. With that in mind the arrival of the second album since reforming gave me a sense of foreboding though I still bagged my chance to hear it when the review list came out. So am I shrugging my shoulders at this one?
Not a chance as the title track begins in that slow calm thrash/speed style that starts most of these true old school albums before the obvious build up paves the way for the speed riff battery and one liner shouted vocals with the sharp intake of breath that goes with them. Robert Gonnella (original shouter) is definitely in fine form here. The sound has been modernised substantially with a hefty production and a huge bass back drop that cruises along with a spiked arm out of the window looking as cool as can be. I didn’t expect the sample on “Raise In The Dark” which is short but right before the riff and accompanying cymbal smashes signalling the next vicious riff to take you into the song proper. If you think about the sound on Metallica’s “Death Magnetic” album then that’s roughly what you get here. Even the riffing style has a modern Metallica stance though they’re a lot damn faster.
“Judas” comes across as lead infested giving the modern acts a reminder of who did it all first and whilst maybe not as technically adept the simplicity is hummable and enjoyable, even if they are delivered at breakneck speed. The first stand out track for me appears as “Turf War” with its modern Overkill feel yet harnessing as much power as possible as the track boasts one of the best riffs on the album in the middle, though the ending is annoying unfortunately. The longest song on offer inevitably has a build up that leads to the riff change and obvious huge increase in pace as this one takes on a Kreator style though the vocal delivery chorus wise is Overkill but with snarling vocals which are a little strained but I’ll forgive that.
You’d never expect a track titled “Kill Or Be Killed” (no it is not a Blessed Death Cover) to be slow would you. Fortunately you’d be right as the track is violent but punctuated by a catchy beat in amongst the leads as “Real Friends” has the bands quirky silliness about it with a short stabbing riff style and nice variations in speed. “Strike Back” comes across as a bog standard thrash song but when you really pay attention you realise that the leads are blazing along and in places they’re comparable to Hammett in his early days, a bold comment but I stand by it.
Most Assassin albums have a song that will raise a smile or make you wince at its inclusion and on this album its “I Like Cola”, with its thrashcore bounce and screamed vocals of “I Like Cola”, as the track becomes very silly towards its end.
I suspect that the album might be viewed as mediocre by most sites and so called reputable mags which will be a shame as it will prevent newer thrashers from investigating a band that produced some of the most vicious thrash around in their 80s days and with this album continue to do so. Check it out.
http://www.assassin-online.de
http://www.myspace.com/assassinthrashmetal
