Review Summary: While not the most original creation, World Detonation is nevertheless a passionate and fun album.
Reign of Fury is nothing if not passionate. With a sound straight out of the '80s, World Detonation serves as a love letter to the glory days of thrash metal. While this isn't exactly groundbreaking, the album fortunately comes packed with enough catches and little things to put itself ahead of the masses of generic re-thrash currently available.
If one searches the album for the typical elements found in thrash metal, they will not be disappointed. Riffs are abundant and varied, with enough aggression and kick to hold the listener in for the full ride. The harsh, punk-ish vocals front the music quite well, and fit nicely. However, something sometimes forgotten in thrash metal is present here; melody. Sometimes, bands go for an all-out onslaught of pure speed and bone-crunching heaviness, a formula seen in bands such as
Demolition Hammer. As a result, there is no break from the speed, and many bands lose themselves in the anger and sacrifice variety and interesting composition for the sake of brutality. On the other hand, bands such as
Evile have shown that, when done poorly, slower passages can also be disastrous, breaking the flow of the song and feeling tacked on. Reign of Fury has effectively weaved slower, melodic passages into their songs without bearing a detriment on the rest of the album as a result. Sometimes it is a simple slow opening leading into a fast song, other times it is a subdued passage serving as a break from the speed. In either case, it works well, and contributes nicely to the album.
Another point to make which is something that takes a while to set in is how catchy some songs are. While one may not think it right away, it's damned near impossible to stop thinking about some tracks from this album once they've been heard. Or course, this does not mean the songs are soft, they're just quite memorable. The album is actually addictive, and will leave the listener returning for multiple listens, never losing the edge it had the first time.
A knock against World Detonation is the partial lack of originality. While the album still stands up well enough on its own that this is only minor, it still may come off as "just another re-thrash album" if one listens to a snippet of a song. This may deter the listener slightly, or at the very least leave a poor first impression.
In spite of this flaw, World Detonation is a very impressive debut release from a bright new thrash band. Ideas meld together quite well, and overall the package presented is highly satisfying.
Highlights:
Envy The Dead
Heaven Waits/Hell Takes
World Detonation
