Insurgent
Dew-Scented
The celebration of two decades of aggression, twenty long years of nerve-wracking Thrash welded with Death Metal made by idle German hands, once inspired by DEATH and later by the omissions of SLAYER. The DEW-SCENTED machine, directed by the constant vocalist, Leif Jensen, no doubt his life's work, is alive and well with plenty of skull to mash. I have to hand it for Jensen, still clinging to the ship even when the entire lineup was changed in a single period of time, admirable for sure. In order to honor DEW-SCENTED's long running adventure Metal Blade Records, with a US spread by Prosthetic Records, issued the band's anniversary compilation named "Insurgent", yes the "I" tradition continues and it will surely never cease. This collection of tunes has both rather new live experiences along with new shindigs and rare trackers (B-Sides if you will) for your collectable pleasures. Generally, regarding the album's track ordering, well done, as for the material, especially the new studio tracks and bonus tracks of "Icarus" and "Invocation", it is DEW-SCENTED's new face along with various of the old chips that will even lead to obscurity.
It is always hard to cover compilation as most of them are reprises of the "Best Of" tracks of a band's career. On the other hand, DEW-SCENTED chose mark this anniversary milestone with hits performed live, probably in Germany. I saw the band back in 2010 in Wacken Open Air and that was a blast. Listening to the live tracking made me think of that particular gig, and as always on studio, DEW-SCENTED delivers it live crushing with "Soul Poison", "Acts Of Rage", "Turn To Ash" or "Sworn To Obey", this lineup, even if aside from Jensen, a brand new one only recently joined (meaning last year), but is quite capable to have its way of sending rugged fans to bloody moshpits. As for the three new songs, opening with the album, to be accurate two songs as one is cover of the old band INCUBUS, is more or less where "Icarus" left off. In terms of sound, I imagined listening to "Season In The Abyss" but in a modernized version. I didn't find it peculiar as DEW-SCENTED has been SLAYERing it up for the past decade and a half. "Guided By The Dead Light" is an ample Thrasher, I just couldn't get enough with the riffing, there is an attempt of diversity with various rhythms and blast beats, but in the long run DEW-SCENTED remained true to their recent form. The cover for "Sadistic Sinner" blasted even better than the duo originals, I couldn't stop headbanging and almost banged the table while doing so, and the soloing made me to nearly wet myself, damn straight a hellish technique. The main riff will sink down your spinal cord and will bring you down.
Coming to the rest of the compilation, I was assaulted with other worthy covers like "Slaughterhouse" or the old band POWERMAD, a sense of great speedy Heavy Metal along with DEW-SCENTED's Thrashy antics and boastful brutal infestation. "Good Day For A Hanging", covering WASTED YOUTH, made me realize of DEW-SCENTED cling to bits to Crossover combination, pretty energetic like nearly everything coming out of the Germans, well played main riff and Jensen is just out there screaming hits guts out relentlessly. Going back to the originals, I was intrigued by the slight experimental "The Death of Common Sense". In overall, it sounds like a common DEW-SCENTED track of late pounding mercilessly with sheer biting heaviness, but it has a few Death Metal marks, a few reminders of the old DEATH consecrations such as the devouring solo, a little bit of atmosphere. So there you have it, hail right here to experience DEW-SCENTED. Though I wouldn't count on the entire song list for the best of them, for that you would need to take on their discography.
8 / 10
Excellent
"Insurgent" Track-listing:
1. Confronting Entropy
2. Guided by the Dead Light
3. Sadistic Sinner (Incubus Cover)
4. Sworn To Obey (Live 2012)
5. Turn To Ash (Live 2012)
6. Soul Poison (Live 2012)
7. Storm Within (Live 2012)
8. Cities of the Dead (Live 2012)
9. Never To Return (Live 2012)
10. Acts Of Rage (Live 2012)
11. In Dying Mode
12. Steady Decline (Prong Cover)
13. No Spiritual Surrender (Inside Out Cover)
14. Good Day For A Hanging (Wasted Youth Cover)
15. The Storm (Judge Cover)
16. Recall The Pain
17. The Death of Common Sense
18. Slaughterhouse (Powermad Cover)
19. Superstar Destroyer (Genocide Superstars Cover)
Dew-Scented Lineup:
Leif Jensen - Vocals
Rory Hansen - Guitars
Marvin Vriesde - Guitars
Joost Van Der Graaf - Bass
Koen Herfst - Drums
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