Despite the retro thrash moniker and 1985 artwork, Massive Assault is actually a killer throwback Swedish styled death metal band who hail from the Netherlands. And whereas Denmark’s Funeral Whore were easily linked to Grave, Massive Assault are equally as easily linked to Dismember and fellow Dutchmen, Hail of Bullets (musically when they slow down, but mainly due to the small war themes).
Death Strike‘s sound then of course has a killer buzz and canter, though more compact and tight then some of the current peers, and also a hint of melody amid the strong song writing. Those looking for a quick, immediate Dismember reference should head straight to about 1:22 of opener “Driven Towards Death” or mid song track “Pride”. Yeah, that’s Death Metal and beyond era Dismember right there, even down to Carl Cristian’s Matti Karki -ish bark and most if not all of the albums other tracks also contain the same strains of killer riffs. I also detect a bit of inherent Consuming Impulse era Pestilence sprinkled about also. And that only makes Death Strike even better.
For fans of the sound such as me, you are probably already looking at Amazon or The Metal Detektor ordering this, but if you want a slightly more thorough breakdown, I’ll oblige; the 10 songs are all very well done, only slow burner “Dismal Life” really doesn’t get my blood flowing. The better tracks are the ones that feature some killer stop start riff or chug and trademark Swede-buzz’n’gallop. The likes of the aforementioned “‘Driven Towards Death”, “Pride”, “Aggressive Depression”, galloping “Cycle of Violence” and rollicking personal favorite “Charred” fit the bill perfectly while “Finished Sympathy” and “Turning Tides” feature a more controlled march, though it’s not the band’s forte as they have not caught up with Hail of Bullets in that crushing regard yet
So, those lamenting the break up of Dismember can take some measure of solace that the sound is being carried on in a most competent fashion by Massive Assault. Another great find Dark Descent Eastern Europe, I mean FDA Rekotz.
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thanks for this find ET, great stuff!
on Mar 16th, 2012 at 07:27Massive Assault or Massive Attack? I don’t care how good this is, I just can’t get past the moniker. Why would they chose such a stupid band name that way too closely resembles a lame ass trip hop band?
on Mar 17th, 2012 at 04:21Massive Attack is credited with starting the whole trip hop scene and they have several killer albums. Not gonna defend trip hop but I do like the first two albums by Tricky, Massive Attack and that first album by Portishead.
on Mar 18th, 2012 at 00:00Portishead I like, Massive Attack no.
on Mar 19th, 2012 at 04:46