Sunday 12 January 2014

Annihilation - Against The Storm (Album Review)

Against the Storm cover art

Album Type : Full Length
Date Released : 26/12/2012
Label : Self-Release

Against The Storm, tracklisting :
1). Tortured with Hate 03:45
2). Contempt 04:16
3). Sacrifice of Existence 04:08
4). At War 03:05
5). Illusions of a Mirage 04:23
6). Atrocities 04:00
7). Hear Them 03:23
8). Kathairien 04:02
9). Disbelief 04:41

Bio :

"Against the Storm" the debut album of Portugal's Annihilation was originally released in 2011 on Casket records. The band is now releasing the album digitally on Bandcamp to build anticipation for their next album "The Undivided Wholeness Of All Things", which is due to be released in the summer of 2014.

The Band

Fabio Da Silva | Vocals, Guitars
Nuno Costa | Guitars
Diogo Silva | Bass
Ita dos Santos | Drums

Review :

Annihilation hail from Portugal. It appears from the very brief entry on the Encyclopaedia Metallum that this record was first released in 2011.  This is a quality slab of brutal death with a cool production and crystal clear sounds.“Tortured with Hate” blasts as it means to go on with precise beats and guitars. Double tracked vocals are a nice touch.

“Contempt” is just as speedy with a nice line in tempo shifting. The Morbid Angel-alike “Sacrifice of Existence” uses fast bass drums, and riffing with some slow tempos then uses blasts and thrash beats too- the whole band playing very cohesively, it has to be said. Death metal is difficult to play, but if you are technically competent it is easy to churn out boring rubbish. Thankfully Annihilation circumnavigates this pitfall by way of ringing the changes in each track and coming up with good riffs. “At War” is a prime example of this- yes it is brutal and nothing new, per se, but it also has something to it; good changes, great vocals and the stellar production all combine.

“Illusions of A Mirage” has a nicely thrashy start, followed by a more death metal flavour to the riffing keeping with the same tempos- good stuff. Naturally, the track does have the on-beat blasts in places, but once again it is the variety that lifts the track and by extension the record as a whole. Nice closed hi hat work is included here; a novelty in death metal, it has to be said and again illustrates the band doing things a little differently.

“Atrocities” starts slow and uses some rather angular riffing to get its point across. The subject and title are pure death metal with the vibe harking back to the early 90's; most welcome in my view.

“Hear Them” again recalled Morbid Angel a little for me- not a bad thing- and makes good use of the twin guitar format. Excellent riff around the two minute mark, as well.

“Kathairien” has a rather stylish opening with a kind of helical riff used before upping the tempo and then running through the gears. “Disbelief” uses a lengthy riff over short vocal stabs as it twists and turns. At just over 35 minutes, the album is the perfect length- there can be too much of a good thing where death metal is concerned and the nine tracks are of a consistently high quality and good duration. An engaging and high quality death metal release that will stand out the moment you stick the record on.

Words by : Richard Maw

You can buy it here , currently a name your price download


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