Onslaught - Live Damnation

January 8, 2010

Reviewer: Chris

When I heard that one of the bands I grew up on was emerging yet again I was quite intrigued. Onslaught from the U.K. have been making blasphemous tunes since the early 80s, and they were one of the bands I found during my early “evil-Satan-speed” phase, one I still enjoy immensely to this day. Once a punk band, Onslaught found the thrash world just a tad more to their liking and provided yet another thrashing metal addition for the masses like me to find and covet like baseball cards or torn Bible pages.

When I heard Power from Hell way back in ’85 I was more than a little impressed. The Force was an equally great album that I loved and still love to the current day. Then, I don’t know what happened, but to me the band just lost something when original vocalist Paul Mahoney exited after the second release and current vocalist Sy Keeler handed the reins to Steve Grimmett. As much as I enjoy Grim Reaper’s See You in Hell, Grimmett was not a fit with the Onslaught camp at all! I began to hear too much diluted Grim Reaper and not enough Onslaught. The easily-forgotten In Search of Sanity left the band virtually on the doorstep of footnote obscurity for nearly two decades when they resurrected the fold in ’06 and released the Killing Peace CD a year later. With yet another fine CD to add to the arsenal, coupled with fine-tuned production by the amazing Andy Sneap, the band was forging their way back into the modern thrash fold.

Usually a band unleashes a couple of CDs and maybe an EP before delving into the live album arena, especially after a live DVD in ’07 called Polish Assault that was pretty well-received. Onslaught, however, have thrown convention into the fan and come up with an astounding live CD straight from the Damnation Fest’s basement last year! My only complaint is that it only has eight songs: it’s that good! The CD combines the best of older tunes and the newest offerings in yet another Sneap-mastered effort. The band sounds younger than ever, heavier than thou, and like they are carrying the years of silence on more-than-capable backs. I’m only upset that here in the U.S. we have no such festivals that cater to our music; we’re addled with insipid lip-sync acts vying for hundreds of dollars-a-pop and insipid children acting like grown women for amusement. Yet, here’s Onslaught, miles over the ocean, pounding out one of the better live albums I’ve heard in the last decade. Every song is a lesson in black-thrash history that isn’t to be missed. Keeler’s vocals are just as strong now as they were back when, lifting the crowd with every song introduction and regurgitating hellish anthems like pea soup, a relentless and brutal assault!

I implore you not to miss this CD, even if you’ve never heard the band before. Usually I would hesitate to recommend a live album before any studio work, but this is the rare exception! If you want to know what the band sounds like, this is it! Grab it or be ridiculed and ostracized from the metal fold….

Release Date: July 20th, 2009
Label: Candlelight Records

TRACK LISTING

1.  Killing Peace
2.  Let There Be Death
3.  Destroyer Of Worlds
4.  Metal Forces
5.  Seeds Of Hate
6.  Demoniac
7.  Burn
8.  Power From Hell

Total playing time:  41:56

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