As soon as the albums starts, I know something is amiss as I’m greeted with the much slower, mid-paced and flat out less aggressive (in comparison to the debut, The Onslaught) “American Dreams”. To it’s credit though, the riffs and overall guitar work is pretty catchy, but this whole song has an arena-rock feel and sound to it as opposed to head spinning thrash. More of the same follows in “The Ultimate Sacrifice”, but things take an upward swing with the speedier “The Strong Prevail”, a song that has a bit of that modern Exodus sound and would’ve been right at home on The Onsluaght.

From here, it’s mostly downhill as the title track lightly treads into semi-ballad territory. Though the main riff is pretty damn good, it’s here where they introduce the newly incorporated clean vocals into the chorus that, well, seem out of place. Catchy? Yes. Good? Not necessarily. “Casting Forward” features more of that gutted sounding mid-paced riffing, and once again, those out of place clean vocals, which crop up again in “Light A City (Up in Smoke)”, and “Through Your Eyes”. The latter had potential with a pair of simple yet memorable riffs, but the clean chorus brings the song to a screeching halt. “Beneath the Waves of Hatred” makes an attempt to bring things back to life, as it’s more in line with the previously mentioned “The Strong Prevail”, but by now it’s far too late. Album closer “Eternal Vengeance” is a mixed bag. Kicking off in ballad form, the song takes off with a bit of cool, speedy riffing, but then toys around with more of those sickly clean vocals and then bounces around back and forth. I suppose it was meant to be some sort of mini epic at just over seven minutes, but it fails horribly.

Outside of a pair of songs and a handful of scattered memorable riffs, there’s not a whole lot of good here. The only other positive thing I can say is the ultra clean and polished production is suitable for what they were going for. I do quite enjoy the crisp and clean drum sound, as it’s a bit reminiscent of Metallica‘s black album. Now that I think about it, that might be the perfect comparison for Black Rivers Flow. Had I heard this album 20 years ago, I may have enjoyed it.

I don’t think for a second this is the sound of a band looking to push their sound into new territory. No, this to me, sound like a band more interested in fame and fortune rather than making good music. Maybe I’m way off base with that notion, but either way, Black Rivers Flow still sucks.

Taking more than a couple cues from recent Exodus while still paying homage to the Bay Area sound of old, Testament and Exodus in particular, The Onslaught is just that – an onslaught of high powered and searing riffs. Riff after crunchy riff, it bludgeons over the head so mercilessly it should make Gary Holt blush.

There really isn’t a lot of diversity here, but it hardly matters because every song is memorable in it’s own right. The hooks come in several forms, be it the monster groove of “Absolute Power” and “Rebirth”, the call and answer vocal approach of “Thou Shall not Fear” and “Who I Really Am” or the many fantastic leads and shredding solos scattered throughout. “Who I Really Am” deserves another mention for it’s extended face peeling solo section and the inclusion of some blasts. The newer Exodus vibe is furthered by bassist/vocalist Jeff Paulick, as his vocals come off like a cross between Rob Dukes and Rumpelstiltskin Grinder’s Shawn Riley. Guitarist Alex Lackner helps to mix it up a little bit with some deeper, nearly death metal vocals in “Revolution”. The lyrics are on the cliché side, being mostly about violence, death and destruction, but it matters not because the songs are just so damned good and memorable.

I really don’t have much to criticize here, other than maybe they stuck a little to close to the modern Exodus template. It’s kind of a moot point though, because as I’ve said the songs just kill, and in all honesty, The Onslaught is probably better than the last couple Exodus albums. Derivative or not, when you write good songs, you write good songs and that’s all that really matters.

If I had to sum up The Onslaught in just two words, it would be “fucking mean”. It’s the most vicious slab of thrash I’ve heard so far this year. I fully endorse and recommend this riff orgy to thrash heads everywhere.