Dew Scented have been around for ages. Formed in 1992, Incinerate is the band's seventh album. For whatever reason though, all I'd heard before this was Issue VI the band's 2005 album. That album was a solid if mostly unremarkable work of death thrash and I didn't pay the band too much attention. A couple of weeks ago the Panaman handed me the new album and nothing could have prepared me for it. Incinerate is a furious blast of thrash riffage from beginning to end.

The album starts with the melodic guitar intro of Exordium before giving way to the groovy thrash of Vanish Away that starts off sounding like somewhere between old Entombed and At The Gates before going off into a modern thrash groove. Things are off to a good start and the solo that sounds like it could have been on Extreme Aggression is just the icing on the cake. Final Warning continues the good work with some more kickass thrash riffs and That's Why I Despise You maintains the intensity level.

The songs are all mostly short and to the point and I'm liking this more with every listen. The one remarkable thing about this album is that Dew Scented manage to keep the intensity levels high right through the album. Granted, it's just over 40 minutes long but with 13 songs, it's not an easy thing to do.

Into The Arms Of Misery and Perdition For All are another couple of kickass songs while Everything Undone slows down the pace with a sitar effect but is let down a bit with the vocalist sounding quite constipated. Tucked away at the end of the album is the song Retain The Scars with guest vocals from Mille Petroza and it's pretty cool to hear Mille trading vocals. It also helps that the song is another belter.

Dew Scented right through Incinerate show that they know how to write a great thrash metal song. Mixing the wild aggression of the 80s German Thrash scene (particularly Kreator) with a more focussed At The Gates/ The Haunted style of riffing, the band manage to sound engaging and brutal. The vocalist though is another matter. He does that whole barking thing that just becomes a bit one dimensional and boring.

Incinerate is a very good thrash metal album without sounding retro or trying to relive past glories. Dew Scented is a band that I'll be paying a lot of attention to in the future.

Label - Nuclear Blast

Year Of Release - 2007