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By RYAN MAVITY
Say, did you know that British thrash metal titans Onslaught were back together? Neither did I, but apparently they have reunited and recorded their first album in 15 years, Killing Peace. So was this album, to paraphrase Chuck Klosterman, “15 years good”? Not quite.
Onslaught’s music will not come as a revelation to anyone who has followed Slayer’s oeuvre over the years. In fact, Killing Peace sounds so much like Slayer that it could conceivably be viewed as a tribute album. The familiar themes are here: religion, war, Satan, etc. The dueling guitars, screeching vocals and gymnastic drumming are here, as well. All that’s missing is the pentagram logo and Rick Rubin.
With the album not exactly being original the question then becomes: Does Onslaught rock? Why yes, yes they do. The opening track, “Burn,” is a doozy with its blistering riffs and vocalist Sy Keeler’s shout-a-long choruses. “Prayer for the Dead” builds bulldozer-like momentum. “Twisted Jesus” is the album’s centerpiece and it adds another dimension to the proceedings with a sample of George W. Bush’s “We will bring our enemies to justice, or we will bring justice to our enemies” spiel. The album’s final track, “Shock n’ Awe,” is the best, as the band hits with serious ferocity and Keeler’s lyrics manage to be anti-war by mocking the macho attitude of the Bush Administration.
The political material on Killing Peace works more effectively here than anti-religion songs like the title track. The political songs sound truer and more convincing than the songs where Keeler opines about “spitting blood in the face of God.” As hard as the band tries, songs like “Pain,” “Planting Seeds of Hate” and “Tested to Destruction” never quite take off.
In the end, it’s hard to hear Killing Peace and not feel like you’ve heard it before. Onslaught comes off as one of those bands that are always better live than in the studio. That’s not really a bad thing, Motorhead has been the same way traditionally. But while these songs will get the moshers going, they don’t quite make the grade on record.
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