Having formed in 1987, Magnus released three full length albums before seemingly calling it a day in 1994. Sixteen years on and they return with a fourth album, and with it this Polish horde promise an offering that will take you back to the old school, and that is certainly what it does. Now as with fellow Witching Hour band Non Opus Dei, this has been a case of hearing some songs on the bands MySpace page from an old album and being somewhat confused on hearing the new material. There has definitely been a change in the bands sound, and it’s a pretty big one, which I guess is understandable given the 16 years that have passed by since the last album. What I was expecting was some raw European thrash metal with a few deathly influences, however what comes out of the speakers is far more the other way around.
So is change a good thing? Well, it’s not that they’ve gone and released something that’s really poor or watered down or commercialised – it’s just different to the early sound – no better, no worse, but how you perceive that change is really a matter of personal taste. If you’re a dyed in the wool thrasher then this is likely to be far too deathly and brutal a pill for you to swallow, but if you’re really open to this style then chances are you’ll enjoy it. ‘Appear’ has a sinister guitar intro that sounds very Polish, before leading into a pummelling assault on the eardrums. This isn’t purely a two-dimensional thing either, and occasionally it slows down to a really filthy and sludgy pace, contrasting the more thrash orientated parts.
Vocals are a straight forward deathly growl – no frills here, this sounds very old school and well executed. There are some decent guitar solos mixed in to an overall sound that is incredibly bass-heavy, and ‘To Understand Death’ comes pounding in with some belligerent riffs. The tracks on this album are surprisingly short, only two sneaking above the three minute mark and one thing I can’t help but notice is some of the tracks such as ‘Worm’ end very abruptly. ‘Nothing More’ uses this effect too with sudden breaks in its raw, dirty assault. ‘Private Religion’ breezes along at a cool pace for a while before speeding up with an energetic verse that is likely to incite a real mosh pit frenzy. At times I can’t help but notice an old school Sepultura vibe in this one. The track that really does stand out for me is ‘They’ll Bury’ as it just has such a really insane bounce to it while there’s a fuzziness rising up from beneath.
Fans of old school death metal will find plenty to get excited about here – it’s simple and brutal and unspoiled by any technical nonsense present in a lot of modern bands. It’s nothing particularly groundbreaking but then a groundbreaking old school album is surely a contradiction in itself anyway.
http://www.myspace.com/magnus1989
