Churches Without Saints

The mighty Desaster are back with another slab of their devastating blackened thrash. Rejoice! I've run into a few reviews of this album (which I didn't actually read, to avoid cross-contamination) that went on way too long, so let's keep this short and sweet, which is how I like reviews.

Churches Without Saints won't bring you back to the heydays of the band, mostly the '90s and very early 2000s stuff, but that's not to say there isn't a lot to like here. The band's sound is instantly recognizable, you just know it's Desaster. This is mostly fast-paced blackened thrash with barked vocals like the band has been delivering in various forms for many years. Lots of raw, straightforward, in-your-face stuff here, no bullshit, no gimmicks, no showing off, just pure fucking metal. I like how some of this stuff is kind of melodic yet without compromising the sheer brutality and hateful atmosphere that's omnipresent throughout the album. Somehow, the beginning of "Exile is Imminent" reminds me of the first time I saw the movie Halloween II. It doesn't sound like the movie's intro, but it has that kind of creepy vibe that gets the blood flowing and the heart pumping and is a little freaky. Good stuff.

Black/thrash has been a very abused genre in the past few years, with many bands of various calibres jumping into the trend, but sometimes you need some of the originators to come in and show the kids how it's done. Desaster did just that with this album.