Agressor - Deathreat (CD)

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AGRESSOR? Deathreat? What more or less can you expect than a Death Metal album?  It is the band's 20th anniversary and this is the best way to celebrate it, with a good album that comes in a pretty interesting package. Oh, don't tell me you didn't understand where did they get their name from?

AGRESSOR is a French band that was formed in 1986 (as I said above it is their 20th anniversary). These guys have taken their name from the HELLHAMMER song Agressor, which is also featured in this album as a cover. If I am not mistaken, this is their fifth full-length album, which is released via Season Of Mist. AGRESSOR features members (or ex members) from bands like BLOODTHORN and DISAVOWED, and has shared the stage with CRADLE OF FILTH, OBITUARY, MORBID ANGEL and PESTILENCE to name a few.

As many times in the past, this album features a collaboration with a well-known musician, Eric Forrest (E-FORCE, ex-VOIVOD), for the lyrics of the track Order Of Chaos. In the past, the band has collaborated with musicians such as Barney Greenway (NAPALM DEATH), James Murphy (TESTAMENT, DEATH, OBITUARY, DISINCARNATE) and KAI HAHTO (ROTTEN SOUND, ENOCHIAN CRESCENT). Anyway, even though the album is supposed to be more than good and the production should kill, after listening to it, I understood that Deathreat is no more than a just good album, nothing less, nothing more. The production is nothing great, even though on the promo it is mentioned that 48-bit mastering was used for high-resolution sound. Their music resembles a lot to BEHEMOTH, but realize that BEHEMOTH have a great and polished production in every single album! Anyway, the compositions are pretty nice Death/Thrash Metal tracks but lack of unique ideas. We are in 2006 (soon 2007) and this album contains ideas that have been played over and over again and there is nothing to keep you interested until the end of this album! It is definitely not a bad album but as it seems it is stuck in mediocrity. I don't blame people for playing music that is a bit retro but they just have to know how to present this music at the 21st century metalheads.

Anyway, this album is not the one I would prefer to spend my money on. If you are a die hard, hardcore Death/Thrash Metal fan, you may find it more interesting than I did.

The album comes in a double digipack including a bonus DVD with a full concert recorded in Cannes, France in 2002, live and studio videos, a documentary of the Symposium Of Rebirth (1994) recording session as well as an historic photo gallery.