Arrogant Destruktor - No Fucking Mercy (Void Wanderer Produc�ons) Review by Miloš Šebalj On a day like this I’m really glad I don’t have a word count quota to fulfill. At least I don’t think I have. Do I? Not because it’s scorching hot here. I’m used to ge�ng stuck to the table while wri�ng with all the sweat pouring out of me. The thing is that there is not much to actually write about the new Arrogant Destruktor record. I’m dealing with an absolutely old school band here. A bit of thinking outside the box here and there is evident but those are just a couple of fragments. S�ll, the weirdest thing about this album is that the band is Bri�sh. Birmingham instead of Bergen. Never thought the English have such a primeval sense of music. Perhaps I’m forge�ng some bands. Or maybe the spotlight never stood on the island long enough for me to catch a glimpse. Anyway… I might have given you a clue above. If that wasn’t enough, just read the band’s name again. Then the album �tle. Now tell me what comes to mind? Yes, black metal. Scandinavian kind, to be exact. With just the right amount of thrash metal to make it interes�ng. Some punk glides through as well. For a change, one can look at the nowadays Darkthrone for influences. Though surely the English are familiar enough with their old works too. Other influences range from Carpathian Forest and Bathory in those faster, more bes�al parts, to Immortal with the freezing atmosphere. Sure, Aura Noir or early Sodom can come to mind in the thrash lenient moments. Gorgoroth is in there somewhere too. I’m not naming anyone anymore. Pick out the other names yourselves. Let me tell you what stands out on this otherwise completely old school record. The keyboards first and foremost. You read it correctly! Using keyboards on such a sharp sounding album could have been a terrible mistake. For the close-minded metalheads it probably is anyway. However, they are not omnipresent. When used, they have a subtle effect. Except in track number 2, “Midnight Graves”, that has a completely keyboard driven part. Even then it doesn’t ruin anything as it serves a purpose of pain�ng a more precise picture of…Well, a midnight grave. Most of “No Fucking Mercy” is ‘untainted’ by them, but keyboards s�ll make a significant por�on on it. As opposed to mul�tude of bands going for the old school sound (and look, for that ma�er), Arrogant Destruktor has evolved much further with arranging their tracks. Even if the simplicity of individual pieces remains the driving force of “No Fucking Mercy”, this puzzle goes far beyond the expected. OK, there are moments when the band displays more instrumental skill. And those moments also stand out. The closing “Dominion Ex�nguished” proves the point. But it is in pu�ng all those pieces together that Arrogant Destruktor displays their mastery in full. The typical black metal ‘buzzing’ is used here to some extent but it doesn’t go on forever. It is skillfully combined with more moving parts. There is no room for banging your head mindlessly. And yes, banging your head is what you will do while going through the album. It is with the intersec�ons that the band will create a much more memorable record. Somehow I managed to make this one quite a long review. Must be something in this album that made it so. Even if the mere men�on of something prevalently old school might turn people heads away from “No Fucking Mercy”, I would suggest you try it. It is more than a metal history lesson. An homage, but an honest one. Certainly a band to look out for. h�ps://www.facebook.com/arrogantdestruktor/
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