The Lost Album

The tale behind "The Lost Album" has quite the seasoning to it. The cassette apparently entwines a multi-release concept about Deathamphetamine’s dark and depraved theories regarding the apocalypse coming to life and the actual theft of the original masters of this very record coming together in some twisted, perplexing state of fictional reality, found only by the last human on a doomed Earth. The men of Deathamphetamine have a dark and fascinating imagination. Musically, "The Lost Album" finds itself swindling a neat Thanatos-driven smorgasbord which occasionally dips into punk touches and other mild remedies that inspired their collective niche, so to speak. The album is actually very smooth and surprisingly good for the thirty minutes of delirious slaughter it provides, not to mention Deathamphetamine appears splendidly original and more entertaining than a horde of dancing mutants.

It might be a little difficult to group these dudes into a specific genre because there are so many musical tendencies, ranging from the grinding onslaught of Napalm Death, to fun, uppity riffing that may resemble a heavy metal band on Satanic speed. Overall though, a lot of sources label Deathamphetamine somewhere within death/thrash metal, and that's probably the safest bet. Generally speaking, Deathamphetamine drops these short poppers typically lasting under three minutes which salivate streams of riffs, blast beats, and standard death/thrash madness, sequentially tossing in some punk ideas or the atypical influence for good measure. Between the quick anthems, they pack a huge punch; awesome riff after awesome riff, not to mention incredible solos thrown on top of the madness. They also incorporate a stellar slew of multiple vocal styles, usually applying growls, shrieks, and even occasional falsetto blasts, which are so unbelievably raw and awesome that I've tried replicating these wails with some avail on my end, unfortunately. Those banshee calls make me want to run up to people I don't know and scream, "STALINIIIIZZEERR!"

With "More Sauce for the Goose," we see Deathamphetamine explore a deeper philosophy than the little assaults of ravenous madness found throughout most of the album. The speedy elements and bruising heaviness are the same, sure, but these dudes turn off the radiant themes throughout most of the record and become a full-on monster, heaving stellar riffs of every creed and just shredding the world apart. The last two songs, "Stalinizer" and "The Last Man," are epic and smoldering as well with endless piles of pounding riffs and the balanced chemistry of an impressive band wallowing in their prime. They accomplish all this in just a slice over thirty minutes, and everything progresses very nicely from the opening blast "1-1-2-3-5" to the six-minute conclusion.

Overall, this is some mighty fine work from a group that stuck to the shadows and remained true to its mutated, grotesque core, leaving "The Lost Album" to be a mentally moonstruck offering demented beyond all human understanding. However, the sheer intensity inside the full-length compliments the prophetic messages of doom and destruction so vividly, and it's at the very least an individualistic collection of burning violence, never once yielding its blackened assault. These dudes could force Napalm Death into a panic, make Slayer pass out, and cause uncontrollable fits of vomiting in the average metal band trying to replicate the intensity and strength of Deathamphetamine. "The Lost Album" kicks tail from here to the apocalypse, and doomsday cultists everywhere agree: Deathamphetamine is the real deal.

This review was written for: www.Thrashpit.com