Album Review: The Death Of All Things

There’s a real primal feel to the new Beastwars album, The Death Of All Things. Beastwars cut their own sonic path again and this release follows in the footsteps of their previous albums, both of which rated well in the New Zealand album charts. The Death Of All Things is sure to gain the four-piece Wellington band even more critical acclaim and devoted fans both here and abroad.

Sounding a bit similar to Kings Destroy and often-referenced Kyuss, Beastwars also explores a Neurosis-like style throughout the album. Stonking riffs and ground-shaking rhythms will put you into a head-banging trance but things are even slower and moodier than their first two albums, with longer track times giving you more meat to sink your teeth into.  

Call To The Mountain kicks things off with some Southern groove sounding metal that’s sure to please. James Woods’ mighty bass opens Devils Of Last Night and there’s a ‘Bullet The Blue Sky’ feel to this track in the quieter moments. Although generally sticking to the tried and true three-chord progression, Some Sell Their Souls has a masterful wall of sound at the end that makes it the pick of the litter.

Slowing things down a bit, the super earthy guitar tone and impressive low end of Witches is sure to charm. Not to be outdone, Clayton Anderson‘s augmented chord progressions in Black Days makes this track standout for all the right reasons. Holy Man is another good example of the bands mastery of many sub-genres with the down under sludge flavour of Disappear being particularly tasty.

As interludes go, The Devil Took Her is an excellent one with pristine acoustic guitar and violin perfectly complimenting Matt Hyde’s medieval-sounding vocals. Clearly Beastwars has the musical scope to deliver on more than just straightforward metal. Also displaying many of the bands strengths the self-titled track, The Death of All Things, closes out the album on a good note.

It’s not all beer and skittles though. Certain songs could have benefited from some multi-tracked guitars in the breakdowns and Nathan Hickey’s powerful drumming is inhibited by a touch too much reverb on the cymbals. Unusual mixing techniques don’t always work, but overall this is a well-recorded album that captures the bands solid and gritty performances perfectly.

The Death Of All Things continues Beastwars’ fine tradition of slaying your eardrums with some of the best stoner metal around.

3/5