Canadian extreme war metal band Axis of Advance are back with their intense, violent black thrash death style. Once again incorporating all aspects of extreme music, with the subtlety of a shotgun blast to the brain. This is lightening fast black metal with thrash guitars and the precision instrumentation of death metal. Guitarist Wör and Bassist Vermin are masters of the early Voivod chaotic but not sloppy style, but this time we get shorter songs that are less complicated.

Canada’s best blackened brutal death? They think so. Arrogance is part of their charm, bravado backed up by talent. Thankfully the early 80’s wall of noise definition of intensity has largely been replaced. Axis proves that a mix that allows for the hearing of each individual instrument is not any less ferocious, however they would still use a steamroller to squish an ant. Another aspect of their style I enjoy is that they are not afraid to stop singing and let the music speak for itself. Revenge drummer J. Read is listed as the official permanent session drummer. The cover art is by J.P. Fournier with his typical detail oriented style, but not a particularly impressive image overall.

Remember when cd’s were new? They often contained tracks not available on the lp version. Enticement to switch to the new medium or because a cd could hold more music than vinyl? Axis of Advance is part of the growing back to vinyl trend and the enticement is a bonus track only available on vinyl, “Pay to Die.” The best tracks on the cd are “The Torture” and “Shifter.” “We are a part of nature, as nature is a part of us… Who cares? Kill it all. In 100,000 years we’ll do it all over again anyway.” The perfect philosophy for death metal. This one’s a keeper.

[Visit the band's website]

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