There is no doubt that Massacre have had a major impact on the death metal scene, with singer Kam Lee credited for inventing the “death growl” first heard on the band’s 1986 demo ‘Aggressive Tyrant’, but over the years the line-up has been quite fluid and the version of the band which recorded this their fifth album is very different to the one playing gigs, with only Kam in both. On this release we find original bassist Mike Borders (who played on the early demos but left in 1986 before returning for 2019’s ‘Resurgence’), guitarists Rogga Johansson (Paganizer, Rib Spreader, Megascavanger) and Jonny Pettersson (Wombbath, Heads for The Dead), who both joined for that release, along with new drummer, Jon Rudin (Just Before Dawn, Heads for The Dead, Dehumanaut). I have no idea why there is a ‘live’ version of the band as well, unless there has been a major schism since the recording.

Anyway, this is old school classic death metal, and I have seen some concerns from about that, but to me this is exactly what I expected from the guys, and I have no issue with it whatsoever. This never sets the world alight with anything new, but sometimes all you want to do is put on something where you can just turn it up and enjoy. This is not groundbreaking, it is not trying to be anything different than what it purports to be, taking us back to a time in the Eighties when this style of music was fresh and exciting. It is not speed of light technical death metal, nor the more extreme brutal death metal, but is death metal to the core, plain and simple. Personally, I found a lot on here to enjoy, and it will be interesting to see what the future holds for Kam and whoever he is playing with.

Rating: 6/10

Links:
https://massacremetal.com/
https://www.agoniarecords.com/