Bolt Thrower’s uncompromising style of death metal is the pinnacle of what the genre is all about for this scribe; raw, uncompromising, and gritty. Since the devastating passing of drum extraordinaire and all-around wonderful dude Martin “Kiddie” Kearns in 2015 that led to the retirement of said legends, many have done their damndest to fill the gaping void. Karl Willetts’ project Memoriam (interview and Rise to Power review) have soldiered on, while bands like Warcrab, Strigoi, Tomb Mold, and a few others have kept the ethos that Bolt Thrower perfected alive for the next generation of death metal. One of said young stalwarts are Los Angeles’ own Kommand, who after a few well received demos, obliterated many speakers with their compactly crushing debut album Terrorscape in 2020. Wisely scooped up by the ever brilliant 20 Buck Spin, Kommand are ready to unleash their second full-length, the aptly titled Death Age.
Just like the aforementioned UK legends, Kommand doesn’t fuss about. They’re here to get in, aurally demolish, and get out with the listener left in tatters. Their first album clocked in at a compressed 23-½ minutes, while today’s subject Death Age narrowly lengthens that timeframe to a neatly compact 26 minutes and change. The adage “all killer and no filler” adeptly applies, so don’t let a shorter run time fool oneself.
Opener “Final Virus” opens with a crusty, grime-filled riff that propels this mid-paced steel girder to the cranium of a track. The ante is upped even further on “Chimera Soldiers” being an audible explosion of a song. Defined by a gravely vocal smothering via Jesse Sanes, along with the mammoth rhythm section of Tim Shriver (bass) and Sam Bosson (drums).
A weighty Hail of Bullets-inspired guitar lead cuts through the mix on “Global Death,” complimented by intensified vocal bellows and a mammoth-sized riffs befitting of the subject matter. Guitarists Sam Shriver and Ian Logan made a formidable pair, as their focused twin axe attack consistently delivers memorable riffs and timely solos. Chugging forward with wailing leads and an Asphyx-like doom aura is “Polar Hideout,” while “Fleeing Territories” primitively barrels down one’s eardrums with a clinic on percussive pulverization. Never losing steam, closer “Collapse Metropolis” does manage to occasionally slow the tempo while never losing an ounce of strength.
Simply put, if old school death metal done right piques your interest, Kommand’s latest should gain one’s full attention. Death Age flies by in a flash, but absolutely leaves a pile of rubble in its path of destruction. There’s plenty of influence from the best of the best death metal innovators on display, and Kommand conquers the delicate balance of paying homage to past and current legends alike, all while doing so in their own way. We soon may run out of adjectives for just how potently heavy Death Age is, so time to wrap things up and rumble the walls of the house with another spin of what will end up as one of the best death metal releases of the year.