With great fervor and abandon, DEATHSTORM, has made their mark on the scene time in and time out, this occasion bearing their newest release, "For Dread Shall Reign," a jaded melding of headbanging and mournful progressions.

Of a volatile intensity with little care for traditional modulations of building up a sound or an idea, "Unforgotten Wounds," bursts into your ears as the album begins; somewhere between the drum fills and the band's full assault a small score of infinity exists within the confines of the solo guitar, a measure of time, while despite its small length, has such a grand intensity that you, as the listener, lose focus on the track and fade into a sensation of apprehension only to be thrust back into the full onslaught of the sound as the band joins in full.

"Blades Of Delusion," has a very tight sound to it-thanks it great part to the open hi-hats-and is overall an incredibly versatile song ranging between both different dynamics and tempos, and ending on a solo is quite a powerful way to end a song. The start-stop motif following each chorus in "Ripping And Tearing" creates tension in a naturally coarse song, the sudden change in the break only adds fuel to the fire. "The Mourning" comes a little past the halfway portion of the album but provides an excellent break between both sections, fading in from the silence of the previous track and telling a story all its own. "Human Individual Metamorphosis" commences in standard thrashing fashion: no build up, no modulations, just a pure torrent of metal. The song shifts in and out of slow and fast sections creating a sense of constant excitement and upon its completion quietly shifts into a short fade out.

The whole of the album is composed with this sort of in-the-moment kind of mentality from the sound of the instruments to the actual writing of the songs everything is designed to be in-your-face and finite. The guitars are gritty, crunchy, and unapologetic mixed into the soundscape where they're not too loud to take away from the band, but still loud enough that they drive the progression of the songs. The bass is sharp but so near in tone to the rest of the strings that it's almost entirely obfuscated and takes considerable effort to listen for. The drums are bright, tight, and succinct having an almost economic kind of playing style to them. The vocals are shrill, consuming, and attention grabbing a tone which over time has been molded to rest and set perfect with the music both in tonality and performance.

"For Dread Shall Reign" is, in short, an experience. A rush of sound which has manifested itself in the form of a thrashing LP; while the bass is noticeably difficult to hear it doesn't do a great amount to hinder the album, its strength comes from both the performance of DEATHSTORM and the quality of writing. For anyone with any manner of interest in the faster elements of Thrash Metal this album is a no brainer.