Review: NUCLEAR WARFARE “Empowered By Hate”

NUCLEAR WARFARE “Empowered By Hate”
MDD Records

Well, I grew up in underground and was never cared too much about technical quality, or sound – especially if I knew that band recorded its stuff in rehearsal room. I can even turn a blind eye when it’s about first ever visit in professional studio. But here we haven’t to do with any mentioned cases. Technical quality is high of course and only clingy person could find some drawbacks. Anyways, as on my taste drums are too much forward what makes that guitar isn’t hearable enough.

OK, but this is only technical minutia. It can be a little annoying, especially if we know that this is band’s fifth full-length, but we need to keep proportions. The most important was always music. And this one here is really worth of listening. This is classic Thrash Metal what we have to do here with. That’s why riffs are sharp, aggressive and quite short. Of course you’ll surely notice something what you’ll be able to classify as solos or just ‘other sort’ of riffs. But mostly (Sebastian) Listl doesn’t play in some complicated displays and just run forward – just like it should be in Thrash Metal, I think. He plays aggressive, ballsy, but also melodically. Also in voice of Fritz (Florian Bernhard) you’ll hear this characterized for Thrash Metal, especially this old-school one, aggression, anger and volcano of energy. He’s responsible for bass track, too.

Few lines above I wrote that drums are recorded to loudly in my opinion. That’s right, but it doesn’t change the fact that Xandão (Alexandre Brito – yes, the same guy who plays in Brazilian ANDRALLS!) beat with high quality. He doesn’t display too much, but drums variable and of course very energetically. So, let’s be honest with each other – this is good album which fans of old good Thrash Metal. This is mainly in German style, but I can hear influences of several American acts.

By the way, I found information that they got (maybe from themselves, but…) prize: Most drinking Band of the World Award. Well, I even don’t wanna imagine how many they booze since I know possibilities of TANKARD.