Bastardizer - Dawn of Domination

Bastardizer

Dawn of Domination

by Chris Hawkins at 20 May 2019, 7:25 PM

While it is gratifying to challenge oneself with music on the edge of creativity, the Avant Garde so to speak, at the end of the day, one can often only be satisfied with that of tradition, musical comfort food.  Meat and Potatoes Metal!  Bands such as MOTORHEAD, VENOM, SODOM, CELTIC FROST, and classic SLAYER comprise this sound.  BASTARDIZER, a Blackened Thrash band from Australia also hammer out tunes in the spirit of the greats previously mentioned.  “Dawn of Domination” is the band’s second full-length initially released independently last year but now being put out through Heavy Forces Records.

The title track sets the record off with a crescendo of guitar harmonies alongside a marching snare pattern.  As the anticipation builds, one is gradually becoming more and more absorbed into the proceedings.  Suddenly, the second track, “A Dose of Vengeance,” erupts.  Propelled by an aggressively executed galloping drum beat, the song appeals to one’s affinity for raw, naked violence and destruction.

It is with the fourth track, “Death Cult,” that the album truly kicks off.  This is nothing short of unbridled headbanging fury.  One can hear hints of “Show No Mercy” alongside “Agent Orange” - True Heavy Metal!  At the 2:06 mark, the band hits a breakdown that while not smashing any new barriers, succeeds in unifying the band into an unstoppable, pounding riff machine.

 It is with unrelenting barbaric terror that the band tear through the following two tracks.  “Demons Unleashed,” the fifth track, continues the hellish streak with a blazing Thrash riff.  A suitable point of reference to “newer” bands would be MIDNIGHT with their demonic drunken swagger.  One can also hear a vibe similar to the earlier material from THE CROWN, particularly “Hell is Here”.  “Whiskey ‘til Death” follows kicked off by a nasty, vile distorted bass lick.  Visions of copious amounts of liquor, other substances, pyro, pentagrams, and all things True Metal swim through one’s imagination.

The sound is successfully perpetuated with quality tone and raw, yet spacious production.  The bass drum snaps with the correct equalization sounding natural yet still having that much-needed punch.  Satisfyingly, the bass is up front in the mix with a bright distorted tone somewhere between Lemmy and Cronos.  The guitars are huge with that classic Thrash sound, able to articulate a wide variety of approaches without sounding muddy.

No, BASTARDIZER have not reinvented the wheel.  What they have done, though, is create an album honoring the Heavy Metal we all hold so dear.  This is a new soundtrack to a raucous, debauched Saturday or even Wednesday night!

Songwriting: 8
Originality: 6
Memorability: 7
Production: 8