All Out War Archives - NO CLEAN SINGING

(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.

(Andy Synn gets filthy with the new album from seminal Metal/Hardcore band All Out War)

As some of you may know, All Out War easily rank among my favourite bands of all time.

And I know I say that a lot – look, when you listen to a lot of bands you have a lot of favourites – but in this case I really mean it, as it was bands like All Out War, Ringworm, and Earth Crisis (and many more) who played a seminal role in defining my taste in Metal/Hardcore in the early days.

Which is why it’s crazy to think that this is the first time I’m writing about them for the site.

I’ll grant you that by the time I actually started writing for NCS they were once again on hiatus, and in the years to follow would only release one EP (and you know how terrible I am at keeping tabs on those… though I’m trying to do better) and an album which, to be honest, I’m not a massive fan of.

But, still, it feels weird to think that this is my first time properly reviewing the band… so I’d better make it count, right?

ALL OUT WAR – CELESTIAL ROT

ALL OUT WAR – CRAWL AMONG THE FILTH