Since I’m not a stranger to this Greek band after listening to their previous demos I can’t say that this pounding pandemonium featured herein was much of a surprise. Firmly planted into the black metal fold as established by acts such as Gorgoroth (think "Under the sign of Hell" with a touch of "Antichrist"), Marduk and Dark Funeral, "War, Revenge & Total Annihilation" is quality black metal that remains faithful to erstwhile values. Compared to earlier efforts, the music on offer here is much more direct and “to the point”. Where “Mors Luminis” featured slower and more atmospheric passages, WR&TA shows no remorse. Thankfully, the attention-span threshold as far as time-length is concerned is not exceeded. Had that been the case, the album would lose much of its spite. In addition, militant rhythms like those on "Aeons Of Hell" or those subtle hints of melody on "Cosmic Genocide", give the album enough variation in both riffage and momentum to prevent it from melding into one continuous raucous blur. Influences here are measured and put into right use but of course eye-poking nods towards the Swedish school of razor-sharp riffage are not absent, with "Beyond Thy Mortal Sphere" and "Unholy Ultraviolent Domination" being fine examples. Rest assured though, they’re far from your typical black metal regurgitation. As I'm listening now to 'Cosmic Genocide's pernicious riffs rippling through the airwaves with their throbbing audial assault, I can't help but give off that familiar smile of approval and with the album’s paced yet caliginous, concluding track there are only three words resting on one’s tongue: Attack, attack, attack!
(originally written for Tartarean Desire - summer 2006)
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