Ravenous Plague

"Don't fix if it ain't broke." These words are both describing this album and LOTD philosophy. "Ravenous Plague", as a successor to a very good "Descent Into Chaos" album, is the continuation of the successful formula with which LOTD had launched themselves on top of the death/thrash metal genre. For fans, this are potentially good news but for those who are looking for something new and innovative - not really.

"Ravenous Plague" begins with a somewhat superfluous intro and it appears that the intro itself is connected with the album cover. After one and a half minute of waiting , LOTD strikes! The explosive entrance with the song "Howling for Armageddon" is commendable and gives the listener an idea of what he can expect from this album. When the first notes strike you can feel the aggressiveness and speed and this concept remains to the album's end. There are no slower songs or some kind of an innovation - this is a standard LOTD and changes are actually - undesirable. Why to change a successful formula?

The production is much better than on previous albums and you can easily hear the polished and cleaner sound. The album itself is very pleasant to listen to and it's a real pleasure to clearly hear the guitar, drums and powerful vocals. If truth be honest, that is what I expected because LOTD is now signed to Napalm Records. An apocalyptic atmosphere pervades the entire album in both musical and textual aspect. Unlike past albums, riffs are more memorable than before and they are also really catchy, while solos are frenetic - as expected. This is due to a new guitarist Twan van Geel, who brought a new energy to the band and he knows how to show it. Maurice Swinkels's vocals are fitting perfectly with the music and you can understand what he is singing, which is uncommon in death metal genre. Understandable and brutal - that's how Swinkels sounds.

However, it should be noted that the songs from this album are not too much different from each other. Although each song has its own characteristics, all of them are made ​​by the same concept. Whether it's good or not - depends on the listener. Fans will not mind too much, but what about the others?

All in all, the year of 2014 is successfully opened and LOTD did not disappoint - they did exactly the opposite. It seems that the guys from Holland are finally ready to sit on the throne of the extreme metal scene and that in the future we can expect only better stuff.