Onslaught - VI
This wasn’t a first-listen record for me. Not at all. Maybe I was distracted, but after the initial play-through I didn’t remember much beyond the digipak-only final track, a re-recorded version of “Shellshock,” initially from the band’s 1989 In Search of Sanity LP, when someone (band? management? label?) thought that it would be a good idea to replace screamer Sy Keeler with Grim Reaper’s supposedly somewhat more mainstream-friendly singer Steve Grimmett. It didn’t work out to a catastrophic degree, and Sy came back when the band reformed in 2004. I’m not sure what it says about an album when the best song is nearly a quarter-century old and not even available on all versions. Don’t even get me started on how much I despise the concept of format-specific bonus tracks, but for fuck’s sake be certain to not miss this one. After a few more spins, I started warming up to the last half of VI, specifically “Slaughterize,” “66’Fucking’6” (although I do think that Arch Enemy already has dibs on being the “Chaos Legions,” however they misspell it), and “Cruci-Fiction.” They’re intense and memorable, exactly how I like my Thrash to be, and will get you up and moving around, whiplashing yourself, knocking shit over, and hoarsely yelling along with whatever lyrics you can understand (“We are the Chaos Legions / We fight with an iron fist / We play the Devil’s music / We are the union of the six, six, six! / Six, six, fucking six!”). Hopefully they’re also indicative of the future of the band, because I could do with some more like them. Eventually, the remaining songs, which for the most part are merely less memorable and not stylistic departures, started to make a bit more sense to me and worm into my brain to varying degrees. There are a very few not-awesome riffs here and there, and Keeler occasionally missteps vocally, if only momentarily. Also, the jury is still out on the modern production. Maybe try a little more organic sound on the next album? Just a hint of dirt and grime, perhaps? Minor issues aside, these savage sons of Satan have turned in their best work since main-man Nige Rockett decided to give this another shot almost a decade ago. Don’t deny your Thrash addiction.
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