ALBUM REVIEW: Cause And Affect – Soldiers Of Destruction

SOLDIERS OF DESTRUCTION were a London punk band originally active from 1981-1984 and a band who gained a cult following with their rabid punk rock despite not even releasing an album. The band played a number of gigs with the likes of THE EXPLOITED, GBH and UK SUBS, so that gives you a good idea of what the band sounded like, and their loud and proud anarchic punk was right at the heart of the UK82 explosion.

Following through band’s split, they retained that cult following and the band’s vocalist, Mörat, went onto a career as a music journalist, author and photographer, settling in Las Vegas. Sin City is a far cry from London in the early 80s but this is where the idea developed for Mörat to get SOLDIERS OF DESTRUCTION back together and this new lineup of the band (Mörat, guitarist Cru, bassist Dave Thompson and drummer John Feeney) sound just as pissed off and angry as they did back then and the set of songs on their debut album Cause And Affect are fuelled by that anger.

Songs like the opening Anti-Them, Death Or Glory, Undefeated and Sick Of The Sight Of You are gloriously pissed off songs and all have a triumphant feel to them, topped off being played with passion and played from the heart.

The album is packed full of singalong choruses, buzzsaw guitars, pounding drums and killer bass lines with Mörat’s inimitable vocals sounding immense over the music. KYUSS/QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE man Nick Oliveri guests on a couple of songs and goes full on Rex Everything/DWARVES mode as he pops up to lend his punk rock grit, adding his bark to the rabid Amphetamines and the dark groove of Also Gazes, and there’s a tribute to Lemmy and MOTÖRHEAD that he would definitely approve of on the brilliant Kilmister. All three are undisputed highlights. As the album finishes with the DISCHARGE-esque Symphony Of War, it rounds off a nonstop blast of punk fury that seems to fly by in a flurry of energy.

Cause And Affect is loud and proud punk rock and SOLDIERS OF DESTRUCTION are back with a bang and fully reenergised, ready to bring you music that not only makes you think but does it with the sense of proper defiance that makes punk rock so exciting, even thirty odd years from when they originally split up which is an impressive feat in itself. As the band loudly and proudly declare on Undefeated: “And we will not give in, someday we will win/We don’t see your crown and we will never bow down” – you can’t argue with the fighting spirit there, something that inspires and soars throughout the whole of Cause And Affect.

Rating 8/10

Cause And Affect is set for release on June 18th via American’t Records.

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