How about starting a new world war? As if there aren't enough troubles worldwide that one would think about unleashing a massive blow of terror. But if this is a war for Metal, let's combat with Panzers, as it was back in WWII, one of the colossal fighting machines of old, or maybe not. Music comes first as the prime salute, whether induced with hellish war themes or the opposite. With the incoming new release of the war mongering bestial fiends from Denmark, PANZERCHRIST, I had to check it out as this band has been around for two decades and I haven't listened to anything they produced in the past. "The 7th Offensive", via the French Listenable Records, started its foreboding engines and shells began flying fast in abundant numbers. The blasphemous attacks resulted in an astute form of Black / Death Metal, following classic Death Metal while enduring various shades of Black Metal intensities. I would suggest thinking of blackened GOD DETHRONED molested by SINISTER or BOLT THROWER as a clear reference. "The 7th Offensive" also welcomes a new lead vocalist, Søren Tintin Lønholdt, and a fresh lead guitarist, Nils Petersen, to the PANZERCHRIST ranks. However, it is unknown, at least for a long term, if those lineup changes, which the band went through since their last album, actually contributed for the success of this release, as regretfully was deemed, on my bill, as a miss.

For one thing, which I will think can be in the band's great benefit, is the fact that PANZERCHRIST grinding Black / Death perception became melodic, in comparison to a few old examples I checked out from their respected discography. Thanks to Nils Petersen's guitar playing skills, which more or less saved "The 7th Offensive" from total depravation, and musical perspective regarding how important is a melodic diversity and passionate soloing, along with writing a selection of tormenting and rattling rhythm guitar riffages, gushed from Heavy to Black Metal, that blew my mind, and how it can elevate an extreme Metal release levels up. I consider Petersen's recruitment as beneficiary for PANZERCHRIST, truly a gifted guitars that if will dominate, he can do produce wondrous pieces for this band. Amazing displays of his skill, alongside the band's experienced rhythm section, commanded by Paznergeneral, which sliced through my skin, are apparent on "In the Name of Massacration" and "Foreign Fields", both tracks are true Black / Death Metal, modern in orientation yet also picking up a few shards from the past, especially from the Dutch Death Metal scene. In addition, I was emblazed by the supplementary of keyboards to the music; I just wish I knew who provided them.

I could almost said the same about "Kill For Revenge", yet on the other hand, even with its great musical showcase, it sounded monotone at times while suddenly near its ending it uplifted a new riff that turned out to be a total lack of context to arrangements that came before it. Nonetheless, it didn't end here. Being monotone may not be the least of PANZERCHRIST's Metal formulas, but their new frontman, Lønholdt, with no disrespect of course, actually lowered the band's efforts for a serious kicking war Metal brutality. Surly that in comparison to the band's ex-frontman, Bo Sommer of the ILLDISPOSED fame that also interposed his voice for several co-singing on a few tracks, Lønholdt has lower guttural tones that show one of Death Metal's emblems, yet what about not sounding like a deep long snarl and actually differentiating between words to strictly verbalize a sentence? Therefore, it was really hard to make something out of this vocal line, and in general, it lessened my appreciation of this wholesome creation. So it is a merger of partial monotone passages and verses, along with a grumbling, dreary vocalist that is far from being animated. Thankfully I could appreciate the instrumental abilities of the musicians and at least I am glad that I was a witness to a possible future melodic extreme Metal material that might surface in a few years.