Back in the ’90s when Sodom went crossover, Kreator went industrial, and Destruction went homeboy, one band managed to keep the Teutonic blackened thrash torch ablaze; that band was Desaster. Throughout the ’90s and into the ’00s, Desaster released a string of now classic black/thrash opuses, and never really let up from there. Year after year, decade after decade, this is a band who’s always stayed true to their M.O., and that’s terrorizing the masses with some truly wicked blackened thrash brutality. The intent remains the same and sharp as ever on Desaster’s tenth full length, Kill All Idols.
Upon a cursory listen, Kill All Idols comes off as a musical sampler platter, boasting the finest sounds and styles of the ’90s black metal scene. Like many bands of the era whose output came off as reactionary to the growing complexities of the Norwegian scene, both musically and superficially, Desaster took the then mutating black metal style and stripped it back to its ’80s roots, the end result being a hybrid I jokingly (but not really) brand “thrashened black metal”. This formula can be heard on cuts like “Great Repulsive Force” and “Throne of Ecstasy”, which boast all the darkness and devilry of black metal’s second wave, but with an underlying thrashiness that’s absent from the sound of say Mayhem or Gorgoroth.
Those who prefer their black metal on the ancient and rotten side, fear not! Desaster have us covered there too, with a handful of ragers that nail the witching metal attack of Sodom circa ’85. The first of this bunch is “Towards Oblivion”, which absolutely wallops with its pissed off riffage and unhinged d-beats. The title track, “Kill the Idol”, also keeps things fast and old school, pushing the speedometer to overload with a riff onslaught straight off Bathory’s debut. The overtly motörcharged mania of “They Are the Law” serves as a rock solid way to bang out this first wave black metal hat trick!
Oddly enough, the standout moments of Kill All Idols for me are not these blackened thrashers or thrashened blackers, depending on how you see it, but rather those in which Desaster step outside of the black/thrash framework, proving they’re just as competent as a no frills, straightforward black metal act. This is certainly the case for the towering blackened doom of “Ash Cloud Ritual”, its painfully slow riffing sounding straight off an early ’90s Samael or Rotting Christ album. Equally as compelling is the epic black metal suite that is “Fathomless Victory”: A track so powerful and enthralling that I can’t help but wonder why it wasn’t the album’s title.
Contrary to the band’s moniker, Kill All Idols is anything but a desaster. These Teutonic titans have done it yet again, bestowing upon us an album that, while perhaps not on the level of say Hellfire’s Dominion (1998) or Tyrants of the Netherworld (2000) (and what is?), serves as a fitting heir to their demonic throne. Rife with gloom and darkness, this is the perfect album to fast track us into the crisp embrace of autumn, and you can bet I’ll be prancing around the forest with Kill All Idols blasting through my speaker, spikes and all!
7 out of 10
Label: Metal Blade Records
Genre: Black/Thrash Metal
For fans of: Deströyer 666, Nifelheim, Aura Noir