Release Date: August 7, 2020
Genre: Thrash Metal
Label: AFM Records
The Bristol, England based thrash metal group Onslaught have returned with their seventh full length album, Generation Antichrist. Onslaught’s new album will be the band’s first studio album in seven years since the release of, VI, and their first album not to feature Sy Keeler on vocals since their third album, In Search of Sanity in 1989. The album welcomes vocalist Dave Garnett to the fold, after the departure of longtime vocalist Sy Keeler stepped down from the band this past April.
Generation Antichrist relentlessly bombards you with a cluster of blistering riffs, shredding leads, but above all, fiendish vocals throughout it’s entirety. Onslaught’s fundamental extreme aggression and at times, eyebrow raising lyrics, remain a crucial part of their newest record. Onslaught wrote and recorded Generation Antichrist with Grammy Award winning producer Daniel Bergstrand at Dugout Studios in Uppsala, Sweden. Berdstrand is best known for his work with various metal bands such as Behemoth, In Flames, and Meshuggah.
Generation Antichrist opens with the two minute intro track, “Rise to Power.” The band wanted this album to feature one of the most brutal and aggressive sounds ever heard in thrash metal, and Daniel Bergstand delivered. This track is just a taste of the new, even more aggressive sounding Onslaught. The following track, “Strike Fast Strike Hard,” opens with an explosion of face melting riffs from guitarists Nige Rockett and Wayne Dorman. The track is about fighting at war, a theme that fits into the album’s mould. Generation Antichrist as a whole was inspired by a world full of hatred, megalomaniacs and political madness.
The next track on the album is the second single, “Bow Down to the Clowns,” and it detonates immediately with a massive chuggy riff before David Garnett hits you with his harsh vocals in full aggressive order. The track touches on the theme of political deception and exposes the ugly truth for all to see of a political travelling rally. The album’s title track, “Generation Antichrist,” is a barn burner of a tune with it’s fast paced instruments and devilish vocals. Between both, “Generation Antichrist” and “All Seeing Eye,” the two tracks are certainly the fastest on the album, along with being another set of continuously heavy and aggressive monsters.
The band detours ever slightly on the track, “Empires Fall,” which features a more melodic guitar playing throughout the track with guitar solos splattered within it’s five and a half minute length. Things get a little darker lyrically on the album’s lead single, “Religiousuicide.” Lyrically, it’s certainly an eyebrow raiser and in no question details the band’s stance on organized religion in a very vivid and open way between the lyrics and the imagery in it’s accompanying lyric video. In the most fitting way, Generation Antichrist ends with the rerecording of their 2019 single, “A Perfect Day to Die.” A track that was written and recorded as a nod to their career long inspiration Lemmy Kilmister, the frontman and bassist of Motörhead.
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