Filed under: Reviews
After The Bombs-Spoils of War EP (The Total End Records P.O. BOX 80-Station C Montreal,QC H2L 4J7 Canada) While not quite lineal heirs to the throne of Sacrilege, Quebec’s After The Bombs do a good job approximating aspects of the ear rupturing barrage championed by those UK thrash trailblazers. Their grim blitzkrieg incorporates tweaked out female vocal retching, ’80s style hesher sonics, and sinister doom-laden tendencies into an otherwise low-end D-beat murk fest, much in keeping with the outer fringes of DIY punk (Amebix, Antisect) and thrash. Not a tinge of the Motorhead worship that has characterized the output of fellow countrymen Born Dead Icons and Inepsy can be found on “Spoils of War”. No, these dirges reek of that Sacrilege-esque ripping of yore through and through.
Gloriously raw, reverb-soaked vokills occasionally recall the drugged out psychosis of Blood Spit Nights, while low-end crust/hc distortion contrasts with axe pyrotechnics, trebly leads, and rhythmic pummel on these two condemnations of war and its ills, ”Spoils of War” and “Forward Into Death”. The band’s strength lies in an ability to at once pay tribute to and transcend the stylistic parameters of thrash metal and crust with notable proficiency and foreboding atmospherics. Recommended.-Mike Ramek
