Massacre are one of the longest-running Death Metal bands, having started out as a vehicle for a bunch of musicians who had quit/been fired from Death back in the '80s, most famously guitarist Rick Rozz, who is no longer a part of the band. Vocalist Kam Lee and on-and-off bass player Mike Borders remain from the old days, now joined by guitarists Jonny Pettersson and Swedish Death Metal maniac Rogga Johansson, who must have a time machine to find time for all his bands.
Massacre have broken up and reformed like 8 times, and I think this is the first time they have ever managed two consecutive albums without a breakup in between. Amazing, considering this is only their fifth album in a forty-year career.
I wish I could say this is amazing, but it's pretty faceless. With Johansson in the mix, it's inevitable that some of the Swedish style would creep in, but that's not the problem, the problem is there's nothing here to really distinguish the band. The playing, songwriting, production, riffs—they are all solid, but there is nothing here that is not done better by other bands, and nothing that really stands out as awesome. Solid, mid-grade Death Metal, but not more than that.
