DIE HARD : NIHILISTIC VISION
Agonia Records
Isn’t Sweden awesome? I don’t know if it’s the air, the water, the history, the culture or the progressive society, but there’s just something about Sverige that makes it impossible for its inhabitants to perform extreme metal with anything less than fatal force. Die Hard are the latest glorious export, a nasty bunch of bastards who perform unabashed paeans to their forefathers. No, not Odin or any of that malarkey; Die Hard’s ancestors are Venom, Sodom and Possessed, and on their debut full-length “Nihilistic Vision”, they honour them with some of the most rampant death-thrash of the modern era.
Opener “Into the Desolate Halls of Death” sets the stage but doesn’t ruin the play, as it were, by introducing the listener not at all gently to Die Hard’s modus operandi, all machine gun drumming, clear but roaring vocals, psychotically fast and howling guitars and satisfying noise. So far, so apocalyptic; it’s in later tracks that we get a real sense of the band’s dynamics and musicianship. “Hidden Face” has a shout-along kind of a chorus, and a clever collapse and re-build towards the end, whilst “Bloody War” is more deliberate, catchy and memorable with its darker, more melodic components, and the first real showing of a monumental groove. “Nihilistic Vision” itself is notable for its screeching, dual guitar assault and for Hasse’s primal howl, but it’s “Fed to the Lions” when everything comes together, with a filthily sexy groove, a head-banging pace and some awesome lyrics combining to provide a truly anthemic experience.
“Mercenaries of Hell” and “Ride the Incubus” ratchet the tempo back up, with plenty more excuses for shouting, whilst “I Am Possessed” witnesses another experiment with melody, albeit a melody that is chewed up and spat out by the churning, stomping, Venom-esque verse. “Attack from the Back” makes doubly sure that we know death metal means WAR, and then “Death Chasing the Flock of Mortals” is a brilliant closer, with the most evil guitar riffs on the album and a deadly structure. As you can tell, I’m impressed that each track has a distinct personality, but most importantly, all of them go straight for the jugular, each building on the aggression and energy of its predecessor to make sure you’re left whiplashed and sated at the end of 40 minutes.
Die Hard aren’t original, sure, but they are pretty big, and they are kinda clever. It’s actually rare for a modern band to embody purer, more primitive times without producing something that’s either derivative to the point of irrelevance or just plain flat and boring, and so for Die Hard to create such a deliciously dirty and punishingly heavy onslaught using a well-worn blueprint is all the more impressive. It might be ‘cool’ to sneer at this sort of band, but fuck it; this will not be leaving my stereo for a very long time…
86/100
ELLEN SIMPSON
