Rob Dukes fronted Generation Kill return with sophomore album We’re All Gonna Die, following up their 2010 debut Red, White and Blood. It may be broadly termed as a thrash album but its roots and grooves run far, far deeper than that surface perception.
This album is a grower. Invest time in it and you will be richly rewarded I promise you. I went into this review with a set perception in my head of how it was going to sound and feel. Frankly, after the opening track Born To Serve comes roaring out the gates with a thumping riff, it WAS exactly what I was expecting. Then Prophets of War and Death Comes Calling just tear that perception to shreds. Completely. Utterly. Both gargantuan tracks in their own right, they are wonderfully deep, layered and textured pieces of metal that are in stark contrast to the album opener and I love Generation Kill all the more for doing that.
Both are a wonderful surprise to my ears, but most definitely not the last. Sure, archetypal thrash tracks are here too in fine form. Friendly Fire and the title track are perfect case in point, growling with hardcore and punkish undertones throughout. These tracks like to keep it in your mind that Generation Kill know fine well how to push the speed to a maximum and use it to great effect. In brilliant contrast and another wonderful surprise, you have the swing grooves and general weirdness of Carny Love that suit the track to a tee. More importantly it doesn’t feel out of place at all and sits naturally amongst the varying shades and depths of the music on display.
Those shades and depths are all pulled together to great effect too, in not only Vegas but also There Is No Hope, a track with two very different sides to it. Both complementing each other perfectly.
It’s refreshing when a band can make you sit up and blow perceptions and expectations out of the water in the way that Generation Kill have done with this one. Is it a thrash album? Absolutely not. It is so very much more than that indeed.
We’re All Gonna Die is out on Nov. 15th (Europe), 18th (UK) and 25th (North America) via Nuclear Blast Records.
Track Listing:
1. Born To Serve
2. Prophets of War
3. Death Comes Calling
4. Friendly Fire
5. Carny Love
6. Vegas
7. There Is No Hope
8. We’re All Gonna Die
Generation Kill are:
Rob Dukes (Exodus) – Vocals
Rob Moschetti (Pro-Pain/M.o.D) – Bass/Backing vocals
Jason Trenzcer (Mutilation) – Lead Guitar
Jason Velez – Lead Guitar
Jim DeMaria (Merauder) – Drums
Links:
www.Generationkillband.com
www.facebook.com/GenerationKillOfficial
www.youtube.com/GenerationKillBand
twitter.com/_GenerationKill