By: Tordah

Posted: Dec 4, 2005

As one might guess from the album title Deathchain plays a hybrid of thrash and death metal - and they do it damn well. "Deathrash Legions" is the band's second effort after the impressive debut "Deadmeat Disciples" two years ago. This time the Finnish deathrashers are back and more lethal than ever before. Prepare to get thrashed.

Right from opening track 'Return Of The Nemesis' Deathchain sets the bar up high by delivering sharp and deadly guitar-playing combined with brutal drumming and growling. These guys definitely knows how to play their instruments. I was especially impressed by Kassara's fast and extremely precise drumming. He beats the hell out of his kit throughout the album and serves as a solid base for the aggressive and lethal riffs. And damn, there are a lot of killer riffs on this album. If you like bands like Dark Angel, The Forsaken and Grimfist then Deathchain should definitely appeal to you as well.

The album continues in a blazing tempo and doesn't slow down until the last song 'Valley Of The Corpses' where there are some "slower" parts. If I had to pick out any favorite tracks it would be 'Venom Preacher' and the title track. The back-up shouting/growling in these two tracks is what caught my attention most and made them stand out from the other tracks. Very catchy and brutal. I'd like to hear more songs like this on the next album. The vocals vary between higher pitched growls and low guttural sounds. A good performance by vocalist Rotten. The lyrical side is the usual death, horror and destruction stuff we've all heard many times before. What's cool though is that the band has incorporated names of classic thrash metal albums in the title track: "Don't break the oath, the oath of black blood. Just come to the sabbath, sabbath bloody sabbath. We'll kill 'em all and show no mercy. Welcome to hell." I mean, who can go wrong with lyrics like these?

The problem with most death/thrash bands I've heard is that they all tend to get repetive very fast. This is also the case with Deathchain but when each song is as energetic and good as this I forgive them. Since when was originality a requirement to make neck-breaking thrash metal anyway? "Deathrash Legions" is not groundbreaking in any sense or way. It's a full onslaught metal attack that commands you to headbang frenetically. Forget about the debut album. This album blows "Deadmeat Disciples" out of the water. If you're one of those that can't get enough of that album then you'll love this one even more. There's no doubt that Deathchain are one of the most promising death/thrash bands in Scandinavia right now.

Rating: 8,5/10

Deathchain website

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