(Andy Synn has a few words to say about the new album from Metalcore legends All Out War)
From what I can tell, it’s common in a lot of genres for bands/artists to mellow out as they get older.
But I’m sure we’re all aware of a lot of exceptions to this particular “rule”… especially in the Metal/Hardcore sphere.
Case in point, while I wasn’t the biggest fan of All Out War‘s initial “comeback” album in 2017 (heck, I didn’t even end up reviewing it, despite my initial excitement) it felt like they really found a new gear, and a new level of intensity, with 2019’s Crawl Among the Filth (which I did review, and you can check that out here) which found the band embracing an even more “blackened” and grind-influenced edge.
And now, some 26 years since their debut, they’ve once again kicked things up a notch with Celestial Rot, which proves once and for all that some bands just get nastier with age.
From start to finish the band’s 8th album is a lean, mean, neck-wrecking machine, comprising 10 tracks – none of which break the 3 minute mark – that blast and bludgeon and brutalise with an uncompromising combination of raw energy and ravenous aggression.
Killer cuts like raucous, bone-rattling opener “Snake Legion” and the absolutely savage “Wrath/Plague” epitomise the band’s grinding Black Metal ‘core assault, the guitars of Andrew Pietroluongo and Taras Apuzzo throwing out a visceral array of rabid, punky riffs, searing, strangled tremolo lines, and charred, churning breakdowns (the one at the end of the latter track being particularly punishing) while vocalist Mike Score delivers one of his most spiteful, venom-spitting performances yet behind the microphone, running the gamut from gruesome gutturals to bestial barks to throat-scarring snarls as the album goes on.
And while the overall lack of variety might be a sticking point for some – though the sinister slither of “Revel in Misery” (whose slower, darker sections are more Hate than Hatebreed) and the occasional dose of grimy groove (such as during the monstrous “Hideous Disdain” and the gut-wrenching, Death Metal influenced title track) prove that All Out War still have a couple of other tricks up their sleeves – the blistering brevity of the album, coupled with the band’s knack for lacing even their most lacerating numbers with some mosh-friendly, mob-happy hooks (the likes of “Glorious Devastation” and “The End Is Always Near” are guaranteed to cause absolute chaos live) means it’s impossible to get bored during this furious, 10 track face-melter.