Siege of Power – This is Tomorrow
Siege of Power – This is Tomorrow
Metal Blade
Release Date: 17/02/23
Running Time: 41:00
Review by Rory Bentley
8/10
It’s Metal Blade review time for the first time of hopefully many this year, and today we’re in the presence of something of a Death Metal supergroup, with members of Autopsy, Asphyx and Hail of Bullets making up this seasoned lineup. Starting out as a bit of fun on their 2018 debut “Warning Blast”, the band have stated that they put a lot more thought into this follow up, writing a glut of songs and narrowing them down to the choicest cuts, and it definitely shows.
“This is Tomorrow” is a lean cut of hook-laden extremity that touches on many different underground subgenres with proficiency and an audible sense of twisted joy. This is a bunch of top-tier musos who don’t know how to be bad cutting loose and, unlike many side projects, you’re likely to have as much fun listening to this as the band did making it.
Fans of gnarly D-Beat and Crust will have their thirst slaked by the grimy filth of ‘Sinister Christians’ and ‘No Salvation’, the latter sounding like early Venom if they took guitar lessons. Meanwhile ‘Scavengers’ has a jaunty stomp and shout-along chorus that would have slotted perfectly onto the last Amon Amarth album. It might be meat and potatoes but there’s a utility and brevity to the composition that shows a band capable of judicious editing in service of the song as a whole. Just because you can play anything doesn’t mean you should!
As one may expect from a band consisting of key members of Asphyx, there are strong nods to elite-level Melodeath, perhaps best demonstrated on ‘Zero Containment’. The vocals adopt a more screeching tone like Tomper in his pomp, and everyone plays their asses off like they’re in mid-90s Gothenburg. Plus the halftime section is absolute filth and you may require an ice pack for your neck if you reacted to it like I did.
But it’s not all full-throttle pit-fodder though, turns out the band are excellent at the Death/Doom thing, with ‘As The World Crumbles’ doing such a great job of tapping into that 90’s Peaceville records gloom, that dour Yorkshire bastards Paradise Lost and My Dying Bride would surely give a barely discernible micro-expression of nodded approval upon hearing this ominous racket. Which for anyone familiar with the North of England is the equivalent of a gushing display of unbridled affection.
In the same way that every Bloodbath album is a blast because the good times shine through the surface level brutality, Siege of Power have created a taut whistle stop tour of feel-bad extreme hits that is held together by excellent song craft, surprisingly versatile vocals and some of the best players operating in Death Metal today. What it lacks in terms of innovation it makes up for in variety and immaculate execution. I love that Ahab album and I’m salivating at the thought of the upcoming Cattle Decapitation record, but when I want Extreme Metal to crack a beer and roar-along to until my neighbours complain, Siege of Power will be my chosen poison this year.
‘Force Fed Fear’ Official Music Video:
TRACKLISTING:
01. Force Fed Fear
02. Sinister Christians
03. Scavengers
04. Zero Containment
05. Ghosts Of Humanity
06. As the World Crumbles
07. Oblivion
08. Deeper Wounds
09. The Devil’s Grasp
10. No Salvation
11. This is Tomorrow
LINE-UP:
Chris Reifert – Vocals (Autopsy, Violation Wound, Abscess, Painted Doll)
Paul Baayens – Guitars (Asphyx, ex-Hail of Bullets, Thanatos)
Theo van Eekelen – Bass (ex-Hail of Bullets, ex-Houwitser, ex-Grand Supreme Blood Court)
Bob Bagchus – Drums (ex-Asphyx, Soulburn, ex-Grand Supreme Blood Court)
LINKS:
Disclaimer: This review is solely the property of Rory Bentley and Ever Metal. It is strictly forbidden to copy any part of this review, unless you have the strict permission of both parties. Failure to adhere to this will be treated as plagiarism and will be reported to the relevant authorities.
