Review of Terrorizer - Darker Days Ahead

Synopsis:

Dear god, some comebacks should not be allowed...

Review:

Though I can respect whoever green lighted this exciting reunion on paper, especially considering the legendary impacts of World Downfall, however, that person(s) obviously did not feel the need to actually listen to the resultant album.

Though only ½ of the original World Downfall lineup is responsible for Darker Days Ahead (Jesse Pintado and Pete Sandoval), and their respective pieces of the puzzle are competent enough, the last two pieces of the puzzle somehow made the end result an uninspired, tired and third rate grindcore/death metal album that seems to simply rest on the laurels of World Downfall.

New singer Anthony Rezhawk has one of the most truly dull roar/shouts I’ve ever heard, and while Oscar Garcia hardly made World Downfall the classic it is, Rezhawk’s presence on Darker Days Ahead actually hinders the album. But it's not the vocals alone; the second rate songwriting, the forced retro production (which allegedly took only eight hours to record and mix and while I appreciate a real and raw sound, this is just awful), all mixed together make for the musical equivalent of a 58 year old former champion boxer trying to make a comeback against younger, better and simply more exciting fighters.

It’s simply a bad sign when the best cut of the twelve tracks is a redo of World Downfall’s “Dead Shall Rise” and there is a horrible, experimental instrumental track (“Ghost Train”) to close the album out with a sickening taste. The other ten tracks, covering the expected political overtones simply chug and blast with tired motions and little visceral energy or urgency. Flailing aimlessly, tracks like “Blind Army” (which is arguably the best of a shitty bunch), “Nightmare”, “Legacy of Brutality” and the four minute snore fest “Victim of Greed” just simply make me roll my eyes in disappointment. And to make things worse they are all virtually over the three-minute mark, so they drag on in their flatline intensity.

Some classics should remain untouched in their legacy, and while I can understand the need and excitement for an album that’s been 17 years in the making, the end result almost taints World Downfall’s legacy with the reek of quick money and name dropping, as truthfully this is about as worthy of the Terrorizer name as Mourning Has Broken was worthy of the Sabbat name.

Avoid and remember Terrorizer as they were...

Release Details

Terrorizer

Darker Days Ahead

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