Die hard-Conjure the legions

Agonia
2012

This is the latest from Swedish death/thrash act Die Hard. These guys knocked out five EPs, but this is only their second full length effort. These guys are all about old style thrash and death metal as they put heaviness (and Satan) above style and technical precision. Creativity isn't their best trait as far as lyrics go. So if they were planning on making any headway it had to be done through their music. They obviously like Venom, early Slayer and late 80's death metal. They make no attempt to hide their obvious influences and they don't try to hide the fact that maybe they could have spent some more time practicing. Then again their move ahead at all costs approach frequently delivers some off the cuff riffs and they never stop trying to pound out as many sounds as they can. That last part is where they pulled over to their camp. This is messy at times and at times it's hard to fathom a band trying so hard to sound like nothing on this album was made after 1989 even though it was. They just stay in motion which such fire that keep your attention. The vocals however come up short at times. The energy and depth of the vocals never gets close to the level of the music. In fact at times it seems like they tone the music down a little for the vocals to catch up. If you worship 80's thrash and death metal and don't care if it sounds like the song is being made up as the band goes along then you'll probably be able to enjoy this album.