Band: Massive Assault (The Netherlands) Album: Dystopian Prophecies (2009) Genre: Old-school Death Metal Earlier this month I had an interview with Fredde, guitarist in the Dutch old-school Death Metal band Massive Assault. I also received a nice crispy copy of their debut full-length, released last year, following up on two demos and an EP. The thing looks very decent, nice high res booklet, great design on the CD itself and a dude holding his own eyes in his hand on the cover. Yum yum. Food for review! By Niek

Fredde repeatedly termed their stuff as old-school Death Metal. In fact, track no. 6, O.S.D.M. (an abbreviation for Old School Death Metal), starts with the lyrics: “Yeah, Massive Assault. Old school, Massive Assault. Death Metal. Bringing the old-school back to life. Devoted to metal for life.” Do I agree? Hell yeah! Massive Assault churns out a sound with an “old-schooledness” you don’t find often anymore nowadays, and the best part is that you do get all of today’s quality standards satisfied. Proper sound quality and mixing turn all into a tasty sounding mash.

I’ve talked to Fredde about it in the interview, but it’s worth highlighting their guitar sound again. It’s the thickest, greasiest, most heavily distorted sound ever. It’s pretty much excessive and nearly sounds synthetic, but boy is it pleasant! Luckily Fredde has been wise enough to stir through quicker, higher-pitched melodies at times, to break the pattern, such as in the track The Rival Believer, so the sound never gets numbing!

The track Come with Me features some rockabilly-type solo bits and riff pieces, as were it a really loud ‘n low Peter Pan Speedrock. On the other hand, the album’s title track features a slow, dark, Black Sabbathian vibe at the start and then turns to speed and blunt violence with hints of melodic black metal darkness. Subtle variations that make the album very much worthwhile. Dystopian Prophecies, both the track and the album, stick. Interesting all the way to the end. Dystopian Prophecies is a track worthy to be named an album after. A very good album!

So, tempo changes, phat sound, bass-drum-moderate drumming, dark atmosphere and an angry baboon to finish the job with unforgiving no-nonsense grunts. Pretty much everything that Death Metal was originally all about, fitted in a modern day jacket. This one’s definitely worth your ten Euros or twelve Bucks! Buy it by contacting them through their MySpace!

Grade: 8/10
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Tags: death, Dutch, old-school, review

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