Onslaught

Killing Peace

Candlelight 2007

Another one of the classic second tier thrash acts has decided it would be a good idea to reunite and release another album.  This time it is British brutality merchants, Onslaught's turn.  So was their reunion worth it and how do they compare to the "classic" period of their early career?  Well I feel that Killing Peace is sort of a double edged sword in that regards.    Killing peace manages to restore some of the respect that I felt was badly tarnished by the waaaay over the top In Search of Sanity album but it lacks the magic and youthful abandon of The Force and Power from Hell.  Onslaught seems to have traded in the chaotic ferocity of their first two albums for a more restrained and groove laden approach to their song writing.  I also noticed Onslaught incorporating some rock sensibilities into these compositions.  Killing Peace has a feeling kind of similar to some of the more mid-tempo latter-day Slayer songs without sounding like clones.  I think this comparison is most evident on the track Twisted Jesus.  Killing Peace closes with the best track of the album which is the frantic Shock and Awe which incidentally to me is also clearly Slayer inspired hence the conundrum.  The production is clean and heavy/beefy on Killing Peace and all the filth and grime that you would recognize on Power and the Force albums has been washed away.  Lyrically the whole album appears to be an anti-religious and especially anti-Xtian diatribe which sits just fine with me.  Onslaught has delivered a pretty good though not amazing album that stands well on its own but pales when compared to their "classic" albums.  I think Onslaught is headed in the right direction and certainly respectable in their reunion efforts but they just need to somehow capture some of that old magic again.