Warbringer have always been a cut above the usual modern thrash, and opener “The Sword And The Cross” underlines that again — ominous, heavy, and a seven-minute statement of intent.
The nihilism at the heart of this record bursts forth on “A Better World”, where vocalist John Kevill, himself a historian, declares that a better kind of world is not possible.
There’s something dark beating at the core of “Necromancer”, but let’s be honest — the main function of thrash is to release aggression and start a moshpit, and “The Jackhammer” smashes that brief to pieces.
There’s also a proper sense of theatre about Warbringer. The spoken-word opening to “Through A Glass, Darkly” is expansive and ambitious, not far from death metal in tone. “Strike From The Sky” puts the “war” in Warbringer.
As I’ve said a million times, my position as someone who runs a website yet hates social media — and thinks the internet has ruined everything — is perhaps incongruous, but the brilliant, brutal “Cage Of Air” launches its own attack on the modern world.
A lengthy album ends with the blood-curdling “Last Of My Kind”. “Once we were mighty” goes its first line — maybe that’s how they see themselves: the last outliers. And in a scene where many bands mellow with age, it’s worth saying that Warbringer have gone the other way.
