ASSASSIN – Breaking the Silence CD SPV 201 1(#4
Oldschool
Metal Maniac Mag)
Holy fucking cunt! After average ‘The Club’
released in
2005 I didn’t expect such a killer, head blowing and ass
kicking
album from Assassin. I may not be objective ‘cause
I’m a
sick maniac of old school German thrash including both Assassin albums
recorded before split-up in 1989 but probably most maniacs here will
totally agree with me. From the first notes of breaking lead
guitar in the beggining of the first, title song I was sure that
it’s gonna be a harsh ride into the late 80s when bands like
Assassin were on the top. What we’ve got here are well
composed,
diverse and perfectly long 10 tracks loaded with pure agression,
rebellion and brutality. Two of them – Real Friends and No
Fear -
are re-recorded withr much more better sound songs from ‘The
Club’. Every riff on this album is totally memorable and
catchy
in a positive way. Stylisticaly riffs are heavy rooted into the old
school of the genre – you won’t find anything
original, new
and fresh on that material but this fact probably won’t
dissapoint you – who the fuck is expecting from Assassin to
experiment or go progressive ? I hope no one. As I said
before
compositions here are diverse which make this album very absorbing.
Mostly it’s based on fast tempos, thic and fast riffing with
occasional, epic slow downs where guitars are leaving more space for
bass to take a lead for a moment and also for a more – let me
call it- melodic drumming for example in the second half of a
‘Turf War’. Guitar solos have a lot of early Slayer
feeling
– they’re more into a speed and brutality than
melody or
finesse.
Vocals here are more similar to The Club. I mean they’re not
as
raw and furious as on ‘The Upcoming Terror’ but
they are
much more melodic and even in some parts Gonella is almost singing -
for example in “Destroy The State”.
There’s a
lot of of great backing vocals reminding me of early Kreator albums
– no fucking effects just pure and raw screams.
General
production is impressive – everything sounds filthy, natural
and
clear at once. It also reminds a bit productions from late eighties.
The only minus here are too quiet leads and solos. Worth mentioning are
straight, rebellious and politically outspoken lyrics. All in all this
album is a must have for every old school thrash metal maniac!
http://www.metalkaoz.com
The name ASSASSIN has its own chapter in the Thrash book mainly for the
debut “The Upcoming Terror”. An album that won a
lot of attention and in my opinion apart from the classic three Thrash
titans of Germany, that album was in the top 5 of what we once called
the classic German Thrash scene. It is one of the few albums with only
super hits, so ferocious, fast and violent that when it was first
released not many metalheads could stand it. Classic in all its
aspects, without a doubt. The second effort was sympathetic but far
away from the levels that the debut had settled, and that was their
last one back then.
The band was reborn around 2004/ 2005 and released “The
Club” album that was a huge disappointment. Probably the
hardcore music touch that replaced the old good Thrash mayhem and the
bad sound production made the band to get lost into oblivion. So, here
we have a good return, mostly into the Thrash realms; we can call it as
the real ASSASSIN revival. Without being something fantastic,
“Breaking The Silence” can win you specially if you
were an old fan of the band. And there some good reasons for that.
First of all, at least three songs here are ideal for bloody
headbanging. These are the first self-titled with the fast and furious
riffing, the exhausting “Raise In The Dark” and
“Destroy The State” that comes with a really nice
intro although the ending of the song is a little bit destructive.
“No Fear” and “Real Friends”
that was previously released in “The Club” appear
here too, but they are ten thousand times better mainly cause the
production is very good, made by the master Harris Johns. That gives a
lot of bonus to their new album; the sound brings something from the
past that I liked a lot.
What is not working that good is the kind of monotonous approach of the
band. Sometimes this will become a little boring. It seems that you
hear the same thing each time and some nice parts inside like the
bridge of “Turf War” get lost. That does not apply
for all tracks but in general “Judas”,
“Turf War”, “No Fear” of
“Strike Back” are cool but nothing that I will
remember for a long time.
Despite the above what is left after the end of the album is a good
vibe I think. Micha is here, and together with Scholli can create razor
riffs ideal for the savage voice of Gonnella. Even the cover of
“I Like Cola” from OUTO (is there anyone out there
remembering them?) makes “Breaking The Silence”
worth checking. Plus is more that obvious that ASSASSIN still can
deliver the goods regarding Thrash. They still have it. Simply as that.
http://www.earshot.at/php/content/reviews_ok.php?action=show&idx=5833
Über 20
Jahre nach ihren 80er Klassikern "Upcoming Terror" und "Interstellar
Experience" präsentieren uns die Düsseldorfer eine
Thrash-Granate aller erster Güte. Als hätte es das
2005er
Album "The Club" nie gegeben, schließt die Band nahtlos an
die
Leistung der 80er an. Das heißt, qualitiv hochwertigen,
kompromißlosen, deutschen Thrash. Genial in Szene gesetzt von
Harris Johns, der schon Alben von SODOM und VOIVOD und vielen mehr
seinen Stempel aufdrückte. Auch diesmal hat er es wieder
zustande
gebracht den 80er Spirit ins Heute zu transportieren.
Schon der Opener und Titeltrack "Breaking The Silence" zeigt wo es lang
geht. Straight forward Thrash irgendwo in der Schnittmenge von SODOM,
KREATOR, EXODUS und ein bißchen SLAYER, der sich meistens im
Midtempobereich bewegt mit gelegentlichen Ausflügen in
schnellere
Gefilde und genial eingestreute schwere, treibende, langsamere Parts
mit leichten Hardcore Touch.
Einzelne Songs herauszuheben ist eigentlich unmöglich und auch
gar
nicht notwendig, da alle auf dem selben Qualitätsniveau sind.
Schnell, kompromisslos, eingängig, herausragende
Gitarrenarbeit
mit vielen Soli, gepaart mit schnellem, aggressiven Drumming und
relativ tiefem und aggressiven Gesang ergeben neun perfekte
Thrashsongs, die ihresgleichen suchen und stark an die Glanzzeit des
Thrash der 80er Jahre erinnert. Wer die ersten beiden Alben der Band
mochte, wird von "Breaking The Silence" begeistert sein. Am besten
gleich mal "Upcoming Terror" aufgelegt und im Anschluß das
aktuelle Album. Fast kein Unterschied zu bemerken, und das ist auch gut
so. Songs wie "Judas", "Turf War" oder auch "Kill Or Be Killed"
hätten auch damals gut gepaßt. Einzig und allein der
Sound
ist heute etwas druckvoller und nicht mehr ganz so rau wie
früher.
Als Rauschmeißer gibts dann noch das sehr punkige "I Like
Cola",
das sich vom Rest des Albums abhebt und erfrischend rau und chaotisch
daherkommt und durch den punkigen Charme ebenfalls zu
überzeugen
weiß.
Neben den aktuellen Alben von SODOM und TANKARD hat eine weitere Band
der alten Garde des deutschen Thrash ein absolutes Hammeralbum
veröffentlicht. Hier können sich all die neuen
Thrashbands
mehr als nur eine Scheibe abschneiden.
www.assassin-online.de
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