A Chorus of Obliteration

The Showdown was a band that I had heard when I was first getting into metal. Their music video for the track "Iscariot" on this album convinced me I had found the right branch of metal to start out with (although that is a matter of opinion). The song had some rather harsh yet varied screaming along with some sweet riffs and guitar work to keep one's mind occupied. The dudes all looked stoned and make-up crazy, but man could they make your foot tap.

As thrash usually is, the instrumentals are a big part of it. Most songs include some brutal intros or solos as well as guest vocalists. In the track "From the Mouth of Gath Comes Terror," Josh Scogin of The Chariot chimes in during a cool down to blow your mind with roaring screams from the bowels of Hades. Bruce Fitzhugh of Living Sacrifice joins in during the chorus of "Dagon Undone (The Reckoning)" at about the middle of the album.

While searching my mental vocabulary, I could find no other word to describe a few moments as "epic". Take the beginning of the first track, for example. A simplistic drumming bit sets the tone for the next minute or so, then is joined by dual guitars which change from light melody to harder hitting noise. When I first heard the vocals, I almost cried, "Oh, great, it's power metal". Even before I could finish that thought, screaming insanity blared through the speakers as though it were the voice of God. This album is not power metal, children.

The vocals as mentioned are varied. Singing exists when they choose to slow down on the final track, "Laid To Rest", but the calm is soon cast aside for some scream-preaching. Epic comes to mind. There is the half-yell, half-scream thing similar to Order of the Fly, yet fitting for the album. The screaming consists of highs like that of Escape the Fate, except the ones on A Chorus of Obliteration are good. The deeps are pretty sweet, but something you could also find in many other bands. However, it does impress me how the vocalist can go from lows to highs as rapidly as he does. There is a bit of darting, fast screaming occasionally.

Overall, it's rather cool. There are some parts worthy of playing just to hear something unique and even the average parts are awesome on this album. Although it isn't one for technicality like some older Crimson Armada, it's still fast-paced and brutal. In short, you won't find A Chorus of Obliteration on an emo kid's wishlist. Keep it brutal.