Onslaught - VI
...Don't look at me like that, you knew full well that this was coming!
Some of you may remember my review for Onslaught's previous release Sounds of Violence, in which I hailed it as being one of the greatest heavy metal albums ever made and expressed doubt over how anything could possibly top it. Both of those still stand - I still see Sounds of Violence as one of the best albums ever, and the mere thought of Onslaught coming out with anything better is so maddening that I had to retreat to quiet room and calm down. The concept of improving upon perfection is enough to drive the human mind to insanity, but somehow Onslaught have managed to craft something that doesn't just exceed Sounds of Violence's quality, but destroys it so thoroughly that even the vast depths of oblivion have no idea where it's remains are. Yes, VI is so good that it renders it's predecessor - one of the best albums ever made - completely redundant.
Allow me to refer to a point I made in my review for Annihilator's latest album as an example. VI is an album that sounds like Onslaught, sounds different from everything they've done before and yet still flows together flawlessly and retains a sense of 'wholeness' - there isn't a single instance where anything feels like a leftover from the previous record, or that the song doesn't fit into it's allocated spot in the tracklisting. Everything sounds like it belongs on VI. It's extremely rare that an album can manage all of this in the first place, but when you have Onslaught effectively employing some new approaches that they haven't used before (though many others have done so) it gives them the edge over the likes of the aforementioned Annihilator, whose new album is fantastic but somewhat predictable in terms of it's sound. VI has a familiar Onslaught sound and a lot of tried-and-tested structure for the most part, while still having enough new (for Onslaught) ideas on the table to prevent it from falling into the repetition and stagnation trap alongside some rather clever throwbacks. If there was ever a defining example of how a classic band can adapt their sound and make it more 'modern', it's Onslaught.
Two words can sum up VI perfectly; Angry and HEAVY. They still find tyranny, religion and government bullshit utterly despicable (naturally) and theyre most certainly not afraid to let you know about it. After the intro, you'll find that the crushing 'Chaos is King' is a literal prequel to 'Code Black' from Sounds of Violence in many ways - in fact, the ending of the former is identical to the latter which by all accounts, is some very clever planning on Onslaught's part that adds a nice aura of familiarty to the track. The brutal 'Children of the Sand' has some arabic chanting and goddamn strings thrown into the mix, 'Cruci-Fiction' has some devastating thrashing going on to compliment it's neat wordplay in the title, '66'Fuckin'6' has an anthemic chorus that's more addictive than crystal meth... the boys really pulled out all of the stops for this one. Longtime drummer Steve Grice parted ways with Onslaught shortly after the release of their previous album so here we have Michael Hourihan from UK death metallers Desecration behind the drumkit, and I must say that the difference is immediately noticable. I have a lot of respect for Steve, but Michael's youth and his background in death metal has opened a whole new world up for Onslaught here that may well have been off limits to them otherwise - and no, he doesn't relentlessly blast all over it. He's a man who grooves and pummels as and when he needs to, locking in seamlessly with bassist Jeff Williams whose performance and tone seems leaps and bounds ahead of the previous record. Andy Rosser-Davies, like Jeff, makes his second studio appearance with Onslaught here and his work is better than ever - Andy is an exceptionally talented guitar player who tends to have a very frenzied soloing style, which can sometimes have a more negative impact on an album. Marc Rizzo for example seems to relentlessly shred over everything and rarely manages to do much that actually fits the song, whereas Andy's style is frenzied enough to be jawdropping and yet restrained enough that it doesn't become a mindless, tasteless wankfest that doesn't fit the music behind it. Another rare feat indeed. And that guitar tone... that goddamn guitar tone! Nige and Andy have outdone themselves!
Sy Keeler once again deserves an entire section to himself for his absolutely stellar vocal performance here. My sole complaint with Sounds of Violence was Sy's lack of any 'high' singing whatsoever with the exception of one in 'Godhead', despite the fact that they may have been somewhat out of place if they were present. Those high yells are some of the strongest weapons in Onslaught's arsenal so their omission was a bit of a disappointment for me - but now they're back in full force (no pun intended) albeit in slightly lesser quantities than on Killing Peace, and yes, they still sound amazing. As does Sy in general - for a man who must be pushing 50 years old he's got the most vicious voice I have ever heard from a human body. Seriously, was he gargling nails and blood for breakfast? His snarl has only become more venomous since the last album where he was already showcasing some terrifying vocal prowess, but this is really something else. The combination of his highs, snarls and the near-death metal growls really makes his performance on VI stand out as something truly special. I said it in my previous review and I'll say it again; I've always said that Sy Keeler was the greatest vocalist in metal, if not the world, and his work here does nothing but solidify that opinion as fact. And on the subject of Sy, he recently played the entirety of VI at Beermageddon festival - including the limited edition bonus track, which is a re-recording of 'Shellshock' from 1989's In Search of Sanity... i.e. the one that Sy was supposed to sing on, but didn't due to shitheaded label meddling. Finally getting to hear this track as it was originally intended was almost like a religious experience - it's superior to the 'original' in every way, and I can only imagine how good Sy must have felt as he was finally recording that track... it only took about 25 years! The inclusion of 'Shellshock' alone makes the digipak edition of VI the definitive version to pick up and I can't wait to hear it properly outside of a festival environment... how about redoing the whole of In Search of Sanity at some point? I'd love to hear that!
Now once again, I've been overwhelmingly positive for the duration of the review and I'd like to stress that I have tried my absolute best to find some flaws here... but the problem is that Onslaught manage to combat every criticism that I've found. The song structures are a typical intro-verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-solo-verse-end affair and they're all over four minutes long, but they're all so well written and justified in their content and progression that they simply don't need to do anything else. Another one that gave my friend and I a chuckle at first was the fact that the band had written a song entitled '66'Fuckin'6' and we just couldn't stop laughing - we had no idea whether or not we would be able to take the track seriously wth a title that came across as somewhat juvenile. But then I heard the song, and well... it works. It just fucking works. This album is literally flawless, and I wish I could say that I was just being a doting fanboy but I'm genuinely at a loss when it comes to criticising this album. Nige Rockett has done a tremendous job with his songwriting once again - seriously, just stop it guys because you're making the rest of us musicians look completely disorganised and incompetent. It's not fair.
So there you have it. Like Sounds of Violence before it, VI has once again dragged Onslaught's previous works through the mud and shot them in the back of the head. This is everything that heavy metal should be and then some - and as I said at the start of this article, the fact that they've managed to surpass their previous album is inconceivable. If they manage to even come close to this with their next release, I seriously think that my brain will melt out of my ears. Onslaught's VI already sits comfortably as my favourite metal album of all time, even above The Force and Sounds of Violence. It's not often that I say this, but you're simply not a metal fan if you don't have this album. The Kings of Damnation have returned, ladies and gentlemen... and they're hungry for blood.
Some of you may remember my review for Onslaught's previous release Sounds of Violence, in which I hailed it as being one of the greatest heavy metal albums ever made and expressed doubt over how anything could possibly top it. Both of those still stand - I still see Sounds of Violence as one of the best albums ever, and the mere thought of Onslaught coming out with anything better is so maddening that I had to retreat to quiet room and calm down. The concept of improving upon perfection is enough to drive the human mind to insanity, but somehow Onslaught have managed to craft something that doesn't just exceed Sounds of Violence's quality, but destroys it so thoroughly that even the vast depths of oblivion have no idea where it's remains are. Yes, VI is so good that it renders it's predecessor - one of the best albums ever made - completely redundant.
Allow me to refer to a point I made in my review for Annihilator's latest album as an example. VI is an album that sounds like Onslaught, sounds different from everything they've done before and yet still flows together flawlessly and retains a sense of 'wholeness' - there isn't a single instance where anything feels like a leftover from the previous record, or that the song doesn't fit into it's allocated spot in the tracklisting. Everything sounds like it belongs on VI. It's extremely rare that an album can manage all of this in the first place, but when you have Onslaught effectively employing some new approaches that they haven't used before (though many others have done so) it gives them the edge over the likes of the aforementioned Annihilator, whose new album is fantastic but somewhat predictable in terms of it's sound. VI has a familiar Onslaught sound and a lot of tried-and-tested structure for the most part, while still having enough new (for Onslaught) ideas on the table to prevent it from falling into the repetition and stagnation trap alongside some rather clever throwbacks. If there was ever a defining example of how a classic band can adapt their sound and make it more 'modern', it's Onslaught.
Two words can sum up VI perfectly; Angry and HEAVY. They still find tyranny, religion and government bullshit utterly despicable (naturally) and theyre most certainly not afraid to let you know about it. After the intro, you'll find that the crushing 'Chaos is King' is a literal prequel to 'Code Black' from Sounds of Violence in many ways - in fact, the ending of the former is identical to the latter which by all accounts, is some very clever planning on Onslaught's part that adds a nice aura of familiarty to the track. The brutal 'Children of the Sand' has some arabic chanting and goddamn strings thrown into the mix, 'Cruci-Fiction' has some devastating thrashing going on to compliment it's neat wordplay in the title, '66'Fuckin'6' has an anthemic chorus that's more addictive than crystal meth... the boys really pulled out all of the stops for this one. Longtime drummer Steve Grice parted ways with Onslaught shortly after the release of their previous album so here we have Michael Hourihan from UK death metallers Desecration behind the drumkit, and I must say that the difference is immediately noticable. I have a lot of respect for Steve, but Michael's youth and his background in death metal has opened a whole new world up for Onslaught here that may well have been off limits to them otherwise - and no, he doesn't relentlessly blast all over it. He's a man who grooves and pummels as and when he needs to, locking in seamlessly with bassist Jeff Williams whose performance and tone seems leaps and bounds ahead of the previous record. Andy Rosser-Davies, like Jeff, makes his second studio appearance with Onslaught here and his work is better than ever - Andy is an exceptionally talented guitar player who tends to have a very frenzied soloing style, which can sometimes have a more negative impact on an album. Marc Rizzo for example seems to relentlessly shred over everything and rarely manages to do much that actually fits the song, whereas Andy's style is frenzied enough to be jawdropping and yet restrained enough that it doesn't become a mindless, tasteless wankfest that doesn't fit the music behind it. Another rare feat indeed. And that guitar tone... that goddamn guitar tone! Nige and Andy have outdone themselves!
Sy Keeler once again deserves an entire section to himself for his absolutely stellar vocal performance here. My sole complaint with Sounds of Violence was Sy's lack of any 'high' singing whatsoever with the exception of one in 'Godhead', despite the fact that they may have been somewhat out of place if they were present. Those high yells are some of the strongest weapons in Onslaught's arsenal so their omission was a bit of a disappointment for me - but now they're back in full force (no pun intended) albeit in slightly lesser quantities than on Killing Peace, and yes, they still sound amazing. As does Sy in general - for a man who must be pushing 50 years old he's got the most vicious voice I have ever heard from a human body. Seriously, was he gargling nails and blood for breakfast? His snarl has only become more venomous since the last album where he was already showcasing some terrifying vocal prowess, but this is really something else. The combination of his highs, snarls and the near-death metal growls really makes his performance on VI stand out as something truly special. I said it in my previous review and I'll say it again; I've always said that Sy Keeler was the greatest vocalist in metal, if not the world, and his work here does nothing but solidify that opinion as fact. And on the subject of Sy, he recently played the entirety of VI at Beermageddon festival - including the limited edition bonus track, which is a re-recording of 'Shellshock' from 1989's In Search of Sanity... i.e. the one that Sy was supposed to sing on, but didn't due to shitheaded label meddling. Finally getting to hear this track as it was originally intended was almost like a religious experience - it's superior to the 'original' in every way, and I can only imagine how good Sy must have felt as he was finally recording that track... it only took about 25 years! The inclusion of 'Shellshock' alone makes the digipak edition of VI the definitive version to pick up and I can't wait to hear it properly outside of a festival environment... how about redoing the whole of In Search of Sanity at some point? I'd love to hear that!
Now once again, I've been overwhelmingly positive for the duration of the review and I'd like to stress that I have tried my absolute best to find some flaws here... but the problem is that Onslaught manage to combat every criticism that I've found. The song structures are a typical intro-verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-solo-verse-end affair and they're all over four minutes long, but they're all so well written and justified in their content and progression that they simply don't need to do anything else. Another one that gave my friend and I a chuckle at first was the fact that the band had written a song entitled '66'Fuckin'6' and we just couldn't stop laughing - we had no idea whether or not we would be able to take the track seriously wth a title that came across as somewhat juvenile. But then I heard the song, and well... it works. It just fucking works. This album is literally flawless, and I wish I could say that I was just being a doting fanboy but I'm genuinely at a loss when it comes to criticising this album. Nige Rockett has done a tremendous job with his songwriting once again - seriously, just stop it guys because you're making the rest of us musicians look completely disorganised and incompetent. It's not fair.
So there you have it. Like Sounds of Violence before it, VI has once again dragged Onslaught's previous works through the mud and shot them in the back of the head. This is everything that heavy metal should be and then some - and as I said at the start of this article, the fact that they've managed to surpass their previous album is inconceivable. If they manage to even come close to this with their next release, I seriously think that my brain will melt out of my ears. Onslaught's VI already sits comfortably as my favourite metal album of all time, even above The Force and Sounds of Violence. It's not often that I say this, but you're simply not a metal fan if you don't have this album. The Kings of Damnation have returned, ladies and gentlemen... and they're hungry for blood.
1. A New World Order
2. Chaos Is King
3. Fuel For My Fire
4. Children Of The Sand
5. Slaughterize
6. 66'Fuckin'6
7. Cruci-Fiction
8. Dead Man Walking
9. Enemy Of My Enemy
10. Shellshock (Bonus Track)
2. Chaos Is King
3. Fuel For My Fire
4. Children Of The Sand
5. Slaughterize
6. 66'Fuckin'6
7. Cruci-Fiction
8. Dead Man Walking
9. Enemy Of My Enemy
10. Shellshock (Bonus Track)
Label: http://www.afm-records.de
Reviewer: Dave Ingram Jr.
Aug 27, 2013
Aug 27, 2013
Next review:
Carnivore Diprosopus - Condemned By The Alliance
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