I always enjoy listening to bands from countries and regions who you do not very often receive metal from, and seeing if their location has any inspiration on the sound of their songs. That is why today I get the joy of presenting Singaporean based Death Thrash metal band ASSAULT and their first full length release "The Fallen Reich," though it is certainly a shorter full length release. However, I always hate to put a preface like this in but it is certainly worth remembering that this is their first album. On that note though, I will  dive right in. The album opens with "Enslavement to Torture" and if I am honest the opening of which is rather bland and is drawn out considering the short length of the track. Thankfully, once the opening transitions you get blasted with great riffs and even greater gutturals. This track holds a great and masterful blending of the best parts of thrash with the best parts of death, and the pronounced and amazingly made guitar solo only adds to the song as a whole. Apart from the opening of the song, this track presents an amazing opening to the album. Following this is "Genocidal Conspiracy", and though it has some great riffs and beats it feels lesser after listening to the previous song. Perhaps it was being spoiled by the last song, yet it feels as if it was a bit more sloppily put together. It is by all means a good song, yet the beats feel slower and less intuitive, the guitar solo less robust, and overall the song seems tamer.

Next on the list of songs to cover is the namesake of the album "The Fallen Reich", and this song certainly lashes out with its beat. While the song is well played though, it never feels like it ever goes anywhere. It has some nice riffs that are very well likeable, but it just feels like the same thing on a loop that is faster at some sections and slower at others. In "The Final Solution", while the lead guitar feels more pronounced and independent, the song as a whole feels similar. There are certainly some unique ideas mixed in, but it seems like they are struggling to break free and become a prominent part of the song. As a whole, there were good ideas but they were somewhat shackled in some parts. The band undoubtedly has the potential to make great music, and this certainly shows when taking into account this being their first full length release. In the end though, the album is decent but could use some work. Though I will give props for their guitar solos and the lead guitar work, which I feels shine out more prominently.