Review of the Album "War Without End" by American Thrash Metal Band Warbringer

“War Without End” is the debut album by Ventura, California based thrash metal band Warbringer and those of us that are familiar with the US thrash metal scene know that the scene was at its peak starting in the early 1980’s before taking a back seat to grunge rock starting in the 1990’s. There is a sort of repetition in one of the songs that makes this band sound like a lesser version of German thrash metal legends Tankard.

The first song called Total War lyrically is similar to Metallica’s Disposable Heroes song. The musical and riffing structure reminds me of Exodus and Metallica. The Bay Area has certainly had an impact and it is felt here. War Without End is now over 10 years old, having been released in February 2008 but the lyrical themes match the band’s name.

Let’s shift for a moment to another perspective about this album. On the website Metal Storm, one reviewer describes Warbringer like this: “If you’re looking for something "experimental" then search somewhere else, cause these guys read the Thrash Metal rules, followed them, and made an awesome album,” (Reviewer, 2008).

I wouldn’t go so far as to say that this is an awesome album but it is certainly worthy of merit and consideration.

What are these thrash metal rules that this guest reviewer discussed? If the person meant that Warbringer uses thrash metal aggressively while infusing creative melody, then they passed the test.

At the Crack of Doom is a song that breaks with the formula slightly because this is one of the few times that this band uses a soft and slow part but this does not last long as the speed kicks in and there is a low shout. Beneath the Waves has a Testament influence to it as the song describes a scenario where the water and the ocean is infested with sharks. Sharks have been known to attack humans with consistency that makes them very terrifying.

Born of the Ruins begins with an early Fates Warning influence but of course this is thrash metal we are talking about. The screams in the vocals do get a little redundant after a while as the same structure dominates in this album. This album is not better than their 4^th studio album IV: Empires Collapse but it is good modern thrash metal.

Bibliography

Reviewer, D. G. (2008, June 15). Metal Storm. Retrieved January 22, 2019, from http://www.metalstorm.net/pub/review.php?review_id=5493