Worlds Torn Asunder
Century Media
As stated a few times on
this blog, I’m a mega-thrash fan. And by such terms, I should be a huge fan of
Warbringer. Initially, such a relationship was promising. I was gripped by
their track ‘Total War’, which is absolutely devastating. The debut release ‘One By One The Wicked Fall’ was a
cracking EP and should have been a sign of things to come. Sadly, I have to
say, ‘War Without End’ wasn’t quite
the stunning debut I’d hoped for, and ‘Waking
Into Nightmares’ was indeed the awkward second album which a lot of up-and-coming bands seem to trip over, as it didn’t really impress me or strike
me as an improvement on their previous work. So is album number three, ‘Worlds Torn Asunder’, finally the album
to convince me that Warbringer are the full package?
Well, it’s certainly a
marked improvement. Although not drastically different by formula, ‘Worlds Torn Asunder’ marks Warbringer at
their most focused yet, and the quality of the album runs through most of the
record as opposed to the odd-track here and there. It begins impressively with pre-release
track ‘Living Weapon’, featuring some solo-heavy action courtesy of guitarists
John Laux and Adam Carroll, and ‘Shattered Like Glass’, ‘Wake Up…Destroy’ and ‘Treacherous
Tongue’ are all satisfyingly heavy, ferocious songs and crucially, a step up
from past albums.
There aren’t many signs
that Warbringer are willing to progress beyond delivering face-melting
apocalyptic thrash, but on ‘Echoes to the Void’ and closer ‘Demonic Ecstasy’,
they do inject a modicum of progression into their sound, the latter in
particular sounding befitting of its title as vocalist John Kevill beckoning
the hounds of hell with his aggressive, raspy voice.
I still don’t see the
signs there that Warbringer are yet to progress beyond delivering feral,
apocalyptic thrash, still appearing in thrall to classic acts like Kreator and Sodom. But when done
properly, it can be a good thing, and on this occasion, Warbringer have
delivered the best release of their career so far. There’s still room for
improvement and for progress, but equally, there’s plenty in the meantime to
get your thrash kicks from.
Peter
Clegg
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