Artillery - When Death Comes [2009]

Artillery... Just hearing the word come up in common conversation gets my heart racing, my mind going, and my blood pumping. Most of those reasons would be greatly influenced by their 1990 anomalous masterpiece, By Inheritance, an unbelievable collection of timeless rampages and jaw-dropping riffs. So, when you're reviewing a newer release by the same band that made your all-time favorite thrash album, one has to be careful about being over judgmental and critical of the smallest flaws. Fortunately, I found absolutely no need to do that. When Death Comes is simply superb fun from start to finish. Obviously, it's no By Inheritance, but that wouldn't be possible to recreate in this day and age, anyway. People need to accept that these bands will never recreate their masterpieces. If one enters this release with that mindset, I'm certain all he or she will find here is an outstanding display of thrash.

This is thrash only the way Artillery can play it. There's no mistaking an Artillery riff; from the very first note, you know who it is. Basically, nothing has changed in the guitar department, thank god. Immediately one recognizes riffs that would feel right at home on the band's 1990 opus, and all possible anxiety I had that this might be another disappointing comeback dissipates. Here's the makeup of a typical Artillery riff: 25% Egyptian, 10% melodic, 40% technical, and 35% INSANE. Add that up, and you've got a perfect 110% on the pure heaviness scale. Now multiply that by about 30, and you've got a full-fledged Artillery album. Well, I can tell you now, When Death Comes is a full-fledged Artillery album.

Okay, okay, so an album would be nothing if it was just a random collection of riffs with no regard to songwriting. Well, worry not, friends; we have ten doozies. No filler, all killer, if that old adage is even in use anymore. Cutting it down to the more specific highlights, one only has to press play. The opening title track is the perfect way to kick this festival off. With riffing the most similar to BI of all the songs and an awesome chorus that I can never get out of my head, this gets one in the thrash mood right away. Look ahead to "Rise Above It All", which does exactly as its title proclaims with the insane display of soloing about halfway through, seeming to go on and on just for the fun of it. Couple that with Adamsen's convincing snarls and we've got another winner on our hands. "Delusions of Grandeur" is the semi ballad of the album, which in general tends to be thrash suicide with most bands. Artillery, however, knows how exactly how to do it. I can't help but sing along to that insanely melodic chorus every time. Also, Adamsen shows his great ability to really sing on this one.

Finally, "Damned Religion" arrives, my favorite on the album and quite possibly the very definition of the term badass. That riff during the verses makes me want to start destroying anything unlucky enough to be in the nearby vicinity. This thing rivals the sheer energy of the break in "Back in the Trash", something I previously thought to be impossible. All in all, When Death Comes is just freaking awesome. I almost feel guilty just trying to narrow down the highlights to meager few, because they're truly secreting out of every filthy, heavy corner of this album. The performances are tight, the songs are killer, and the production is perfect. What more can one ask for? I believe the biggest concern fans had coming into this release was how Adamsen was going to perform as Ronsdorf's replacement, but as far as I'm concerned, he lives up to the legend, doing both the fans and the band no disservice. The killing spree will only continue...

   Overall: 8.5/10 (Great - 3300% on the riff etiquette test)