A few short years ago, Oxygen Destroyer rose from the sea, unleashing pure mayhem upon the unsuspecting public and destroying everything in sight with their barbaric brand of old school death/thrash. It may be cheap of me to start this review with a Godzilla metaphor, but would you expect anything less? This band has dedicated themselves to capturing the carnage of Kaiju films through music. And just as civilization was rebuilding from their first devastating attack, Bestial Manifestations of Malevolence and Death, Oxygen Destroyer has struck again with their second full length offering, Sinister Monstrosities Spawned by the Unfathomable Ignorance of Humankind. For simplicity’s sake, we’re going to refer to the album as Sinister Monstrosities for short.
Sinister Monstrosities is more or less a continuation of the primitive late 80s sound explored on Bestial Manifestations. The major proponents of Oxygen Destroyer’s sound are death and thrash metal, but there’s a blackened aura throughout as well. Take the riffs and vocals on the opening cut, “Merciless Embodiment of Everlasting Death”. They possess that evil, demo like quality reminiscent of black metal’s transitional phase from first to second wave. The same can be said for “Possessing the Putrified Remnants of the Unholy God Incarnate”, although this song incorporates some slow, weighty riffs to counter the thrash attack.
I’m not sure I’d label these slower passages as “mosh riffs”, but they certainly have that same devastating sledgehammer to the face effect, carrying on in the tradition of Obituary and Demolition Hammer. They also add an extra layer of brutality to the already brutal “Slaughtering the Guardian Monsters” and “Their Reign Has Begun”. Who am I kidding? This entire album is brutal. Oxygen Destroyer are like the unholy offspring of Pleasure to Kill era Kreator and Altars of Madness era Morbid Angel, yet without sounding like they’re ripping off either band.
It’s death/thrash in the purest sense of the term: The unbridled aggression of death metal meets the flesh ripping speed of thrash. Cuts like “Sons of the Necrobeast”, “Enduring the Maternal Rage of the Amphibious Monstrosity”, and “The Plague Spreading Horror from 20,000 Fathoms” demonstrate this textbook approach with such intensity that even Reign in Blood era Slayer and early grindcore come to mind. The riffs occasionally have that “grinding” characteristic, but it’s most present on the fast and punky “As Big as a Battleship”.
Just a little under 30 minutes is all Oxygen Destroyer needs to lay the listener to waste with their Sinister Monstrosities. If the album went longer, it could potentially lose it’s punch, which is unfortunately the case for many potentially great death, thrash, and grind releases today (thanks clueless record labels who slap 40 minute album requirements into contracts). Not Sinister Monstrosities. This maniacal beast will endure to wreak havoc upon many generations to come. Beware the kaiju!
8 out of 10
Label: Redefining Darkness Records
Genre: Death/Thrash Metal
For fans of: Kreator, Sepultura, Morbid Angel