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Axis of Advance > The List > Reviews > Anaktas
Axis of Advance - The List

War Black Metal masterpiece. - 98%

Anaktas, February 4th, 2008

The violence of a modern battlefield. Tanks slowly advancing towards the enemy lines. Soldiers march into certain death. Machine weapons firing. Bombs falling. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome. This is the purest soundtrack to WAR.

Axis of advance made a breakthrough in this record. The music is absolutely skullcrushing, with J.Read (Revenge, ex-Conqueror) smashing the drumkit as if he is firing with the assault rifle. The drums are loud enough, whereas Wor and Vermin provide a noisy (but "phat" and powerful) wall of sound. Vocals nicely change from hi-pitched to growls, and the production is relatively clear (for this sub-genre, I mean!).

Somebody could ask a very normal question. "Why is this record different from, say, Revenge, Conqueror, Blasphemy or early Beherit?". I'll tell you. This album gets 98% just because it's so damn clever. In the middle of a relentless blastbeat, the song goes mid-tempo with a melodic part (NOT in the vein of fairy-melodic-death-metal-crap, but like a WAR ANTHEM) which makes your head go off while headbanging. You will hear smart changes that solely serve the purpose of transforming a run-of-the-mill canadian grind/black metal release to a goddamn MASTERPIECE without any doubt. Just when you are sure that you can't tell what the heck does the guitar play, there comes a progressive break (but still violent! do not misunderstand my words, I am not talking about progressive-regressive metal like Dream Theater) that simply sticks to your mind.

I will not mention standout tracks, because it is utterly stupid to mention all of the tracks...this is not an exaggeration. I absolutely mean it.

If violence in modern-age war somehow manifested itself, the soundtrack would be this release. Every single track in this release will make you think that you are in the middle of a battlefield, with no hope of surviving.

Consider yourself warned.