So exposed to the crestfallen miasma of countless darkened grotesqueries and so spoiled to fervor-riddled old school death metal and retro-thrash throwbacks boasting the boisterous concoctions of modernity and archaic demonstrations of the olden acts that we've been utterly blinded by a stockpile of dirt and irrelevancy, which has blotted our sight for far too long. Given so many contenders impetuously entering the all-out assault, I've found weeding through the plentiful quantities and acquiring distinct quality to be one of the most arduous tasks of all, and yet sometimes, you get an abrupt, unexpected blast of fresh air in your face, arousing hope for today's metal trends. I'm well acquainted with Tom Martin's fellowship of thrash, Lich King, mainly because the continuous applause they're earning throughout the modern battlefield of thrash, relentlessly releasing new material, thrash after thrash, and yet, amid the ingenious tactics used to construct the band's latest effort, ''Born Of The Bomb'', I have to confide that I never had any kind of adoration for the band.
Before the release of this record, I had no reverence for the act, even less love for their cheesy zombie/nuclear devastation themes, and even if they excluded the lyrical antics from their compositions, the music was simply not diverse enough to appease me. What possible difference did the band have among tens and thousands of fresh act joining the resurgence orgy? None. And yet, ironically, ''Born Of The Bomb'' doe not really expand the band's parallel focus on thrash metal either. So why is it much more satisfying? I honestly have no idea. What was, to hundreds of Lich King fans worldwide, a simple, positive improvement and an advancement with nuances towards a robuster formula, to me, feels as if the pace has increased dramatically, stepping up from night, to day. I can't find a logical explanation for this brusque change of mind, but I believe this is mainly because the band has evolved into a more mature act, more serious, more professional, while still letting a bit of that beer-riddled guitar craze flow out of the band's harsh, street-bound veins. In my obstinate persistence, I also believe that now, the band has truly found the sound they had been seeking for long years.
The entire record reeks of Vio-lence, Morbid Saint, Demolition Hammer, Exodus, and any other Bay Are oriented acts you can imagine. What the band aims with their developed formula, is something a little deeper than their previous efforts, as the band gives equal weight to various elements throughout to support the color of the album. Pure destruction and thrash driven wreckage is not the only target the vandals have hung on to, it seems, though surprisingly, it's one aspect that has improved. Immediately after the opener, ''All Hail'', ''We Came To Conquer'' literally collapses on the listener like rain of serrated sharp boulders, plummeting out of the sky, and unto the perplexed mass of people. The band's structural prose does not depend on the same, verse-chorus pattern anymore, as well; instead, some of the more harmonious blends like ''Agnoticism'' have a crude melodious captivity to them, which can instantly hook the listener. Tom Martin, whose vocal style I have scoffed at many times, is fucking mad, and the guy could have easily led men to battle while tearing down hunks of flesh with a wicked two-sided battleaxe.
I'm much more pleased with this record that I though I would be, and given that it's clearly one of the best pure thrash records the year has offered us up to this point, I think it deserves a good many accolades. Really, I would prefer the olden masters over the countless gimmicks anytime, but they are a few acts, or albums that I sometimes find myself liking more than several old school releases. This is definitely a nice addition to that list. May them never decline.
Highlights:
Agnoticism
Combat Mosh
We Came To Conquer
Rating: 85,5%
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