Germany's Desaster has been walking on the black thrash path since the early 90s and their debut full length A Touch Of Medieval Darkness remains one of my favourite albums in this sub-genre. 2007 saw the band release it's brand new full length in 666- Satan's Soldiers Syndicate.

Couple of things are immediately apparent. The band still write songs that could make Sodom and Destruction proud but deliver it in a black metal context and the band still know how to hit a few grooves. I have to make it clear that this album is by no means path breaking. There's also nothing here that you haven't heard before but what you do have is a band that seems to have gotten better at writing thrash metal songs. There's a real sense of dynamics in the songs with all out thrash parts sitting very comfortably next to slower groovier sections and some very German sounding guitar solos. Another thing that works in the band's favour is that the sound is decidedly old school. There's no modern crunch, no breakdowns, and no fucking Gothenburg influence. This is raw dirty old school thrash metal and the black metal sound has been toned down on this album to being almost negligible.

The album starts in a slightly tame fashion with the title song not doing too much to capture my attention but then the next three songs, Angel Exterminator, Razor Ritual and Hellbanger are superbly executed thrash metal songs that made me sit up and take notice of this band again. Desaster manage to maintain the momentum of these songs right through the album and deliver the goods after a slightly shaky start.

Retro thrash might be the next big trend and while I am not particularly fond of these bands that mine the legacy of the original wave of thrash metal I have to say this. Desaster has pulled off quite a trick in that they still play extreme metal that is fairly derivative but at the same time the band has managed over the course of the last fifteen years or so to carve their own identity and place in the extreme metal field.

While this album may not be as good as the debut, it is still the band's best in a long while. Worth checking out for anybody into some good no nonsense extreme metal.



Label - Metal Blade
Year Of Release - 2007