After two fine albums on FDA Records (including 2022’s fucking outstanding Feldwärts), Germany’s war mongering death metal act Scalpture have made the jump to a different German label, Testimony Records for their 4th album, though it comes with mixed results.

Saying Landkreig is a step back from Feldwärts is probably a bit over an overstatement, as Scalpture still delivers their trademark style of lumbering Asphyx, Hail of Bullets, Bolt Thrower inspired death metal, but personally, there is just something that isn’t quite entralling me as much as Feldwärts did.

Moving on from WWI, Landkreig tackles the religious German 30-year war of 1618 – 1648, and as with the band’s past efforts comes with meticulous historical research and references, rather than simply a death metal album glorifying war.

The 10-song effort continues the band’s sound and style, again with a paint peeling Marco Brinkman (Evoked, Carnal Tomb) production and mix, and with vocalist Thorsten Pieper who still delivers one of the better Martin Van Drunen rasps and wails around.

The focus is largely somber, rumbling mid-paced death metal, with expected bursts of blast beats. However, one thing that detracted me was the use of gang chants in a number of the songs, no doubt meant to represent the shouts and chants of the soldiers at the time, but I found them a bit offputting (there is even a song called “Hell’s Choirs Chant”).

Song wise, the band is still competent and delivers plenty of massive, mid-paced riffs, but nothing really grabbed me like say “Landships” or “Through Hell and On” from Feldwärts. But there are still some solid tracks here such as opener “Into Catastrophe”, lumbering “Schwedentrunk”,  and the moodier numbers like “Of Siege and Besieged” and closer “Bellum se ipsum alet”.

Landkreig isn’t a bad album at all. But whereas Feldwärts was a contender for one of 2022s best death metal albums, it’s likely that after writing this review, Landkreig will get deleted from my phone as I move on to other, better death metal albums here early 2025 (i.e. Dormant Ordeal, Skaphos). Maybe a shift back to WWI could be in order to bring back the true excellence that Scalpture is capable of.

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