ALBUM REVIEW: Generation Antichrist – Onslaught

While thrash never seemed to explode in quite the same way here as it did across the pond or on the mainland, there was more than a handful of Brits who brought the genre to underground prominence on British shores – Bristol ragers ONSLAUGHT being one of the premiers. Following early classics Power From Hell and The Force, and comeback slabs of brilliance Sounds of Violence and VI, the Bristol outfit are back after a seven year wait with their seventh full-length, Generation Antichrist. But with VI proving to be some of the best material of their career, have ONSLAUGHT made full use of the extended break to craft their magnum opus?

Unfortunately, it would seem not. Right from the offset, its clear that Generation Antichrist is marred by misstep after misstep, ranging from missed opportunities to simply poor composition and execution. The first comes right from the second you hit play with Rise To Power. A pointless introduction leads into some really heavy riffing, death metal growls and a groove heavy verse – but barely passed the two minute mark Rise To Power comes to an abrupt close. Cut the sampled intro and fully develop the strong ideas shown in the second minute, and Rise To Power could have been an excellent opening – unfortunately, the reality is a waste of potential.

It’s not all bad in Generation Antichrist‘s early moments, though. Strike Fast Strike Hard proves to be an immediate highlight of the record, bringing a touch of an EXODUS vibe in its furious delivery and some blinding solo work, while the record’s title track is groove-heavy, creating a truly unsettling atmosphere before delivering some of the most violent thrash riffing to be released this year. However, with such a high quality hitting so hard and so early, it does serve to highlight how weak much of the record is. Nonetheless, these are two of the few moments worthy of the ONSLAUGHT legacy to be found on Generation Antichrist.

Things quickly take a turn for the mediocre, though. Following from Strike Fast Strike Hard, Bow Down to the Clowns has some absolutely killer riffs tucked away, and a big singalong chorus, but much of the track lacks punch or memorability, while All Seeing Eye is an average thrash by numbers – though there is a couple of tasty lead-breaks to be found. Addicted to the Smell of Death follows suit, surrounding an actually pretty cool chorus with fairly bland thrash at best, lacking the punch and passion the genre usually carries at the fore. ONSLAUGHT quickly take a 180 with Empires Fall, though, which sees a return to the well-thought-out, imaginative thrashing the band perfected across VI, interesting melodies inter-playing nicely with heavy grooves and bursts of pure aggression. This serves to be the last hoorah of brilliance on Generation Antichrist, though.

Closing couplet Religiousicide and A Perfect Day to Die close of Generation Antichrist on a decidedly disappointing note. Religiousicide has potential, but a weak James Hetfield inspired vocal performance and truly abysmal lyrics smother the moments of strength the track shows, which is a real shame as it could have been an absolute rager. At this point in heavy metal history, the apparent evils of religion have been discussed to death – that’s not to say it can’t still be tackled in an interesting manner, but with truly classless lyrics like “Religion takes it up the ass/It’s Jesus fucking Christ,” you can’t help but wonder if the lyrical foundation of the penultimate track was taken straight from an edgy 15 year old’s notebook. A Perfect Day to Die is a far stronger offering, but at this point the damage has been done – and, sadly, this re-recorded version fails to replicate the strength of the single version released last year.

Generation Antichrist is fine. It’s not an inherently bad record, but it certainly isn’t a great one either. If you can look passed the poor lyricism and the subpar, Master of Puppets-era Hetfield vocals, there’s some cracking riffs to be found and a couple of diamonds in the rough – namely Strike Fast Strike Hard, Empires Fall and the title track. But on the whole, this is a weak addition to ONSLAUGHT‘s catalogue, and far from the quality that was expected following a seven year gap from VI. Fine for some background thrashing, but a modern thrash-terpiece it ain’t.

Rating: 5/10

Generation Antichrist is out now via AFM Records. 

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