Review by Felix on June 4, 2024.

Here we already have the fourth full-length of Barbarian Swords and I admit that I think their band name is pretty dubious. Anyway, these swordtails hail from Spain and they love unmistakable titles. (Feel free to check out the name of the predecessor of the here reviewed album.) The good thing is that their music also leaves no doubt what they want to present. The title “Anti-Dogma Megaforce” does not promise too much. What we get is the feeling of nuclear insanity that Impaled Nazarene once transported. But the dudes of Barbarian Swords are no copycats and not interested in slavish imitations. They wallow in their own atomic, absolutely merciless approach that intends to pulverize everything. Due to whatever reason, especially Barcelona is on their list (“Nuke Barcelona”). But okay, do what needs to be done.

For the ears of a mainstream music listener, the album sounds disgusting, ugly, and absurdly brutal. But you, the admins of M-A and me know it better. Uttermost ferocity can be great fun and the two to three minute anthems to dilapidation are completely free from any details one could describe with stupid words like “melodic” or “harmonious”. Even the integration of keyboards, for example in “Glorious Deicide”, does not change this state. Barbarian Swords have better things in mind. Everything is dominated by totally vicious vocals, harsh and fast drumming and two guitar players who try to bring world’s end to life on their six strings. By the way, they are pretty successful in doing so.

Variety is written in very small letters here. The band models the listener’s face eight times with a baseball bat and the never ending rage of the Catalan’s is remarkable. The apocalypse comes too late, its soundtrack has already been written. Always close to chaos, collapse and corrosion, the band strikes with high velocity outbursts, pounding mid-tempo parts and omnipresent cruelty. The amok run with extreme killers like, well, „Killer of All Hope“, ends after 23 minutes, but even the monumental closer does not offer many options to take a deep breath. It’s amazing, Barbarian Swords have found a way that combines total underground metal with a professional production, bloodlust with musical competence and stubbornness with excitement. I recommend to give songs like “Immoral Ritualistic Abomination” a chance – or any other of the remaining eight pieces. And if you really believe that the eight short torpedos suffer from interchangeability, then please recognize that their newest work „Fetid“ surprises with a completely different configuration. Six songs, 47 minutes – but hopefully a comparable massacre. Anyway, „Anti-Dogma Megaforce“ is worth its money.

Rating: 8.4 out of 10

Review by Felix on October 1, 2019.

Thrash metal has different faces and bands from South America have an affinity for its wildest visage. Decimator from Brazil do not march to a different drummer. Their musical approach does not lack energy and pressure, and some might say they play a combination of death and thrash metal. I do not agree, because deep growling or low-tuned guitars do not show up. As mentioned before, I just listen to a rather orgiastic form of thrash, but I cannot identify external influences. Decimator do not suffer from technical incompetence, but they do not focus on the technical finesse of the old gods from the Bay Area and they stay clear from the rumbling thunderstorm that albums like "Pleasure to Kill" generated. They are somewhere between these two poles - and they have this greed for ultra-fast rhythms that documents their thrashing authenticity.

Sometimes I am not sure whether units like Decimator are really interested in writing the best songs they can create. From time to time, it seems to me as if they rather play music in order to let steam off, no matter what's the price. They spit out many different sequences and so it happens a lot during the songs, but the overall picture remains improvable. No, there are no serious defects that hurt the joy of listening in a significant way. "Streams of Blood" has some mid-paced sections with a recognition value, but this is just the exception to the norm. No doubt, some more hooks would have been a good idea in order to give the audience more orientation. The absence of catchy parts has the effect that nearly everything rushes by without creating a long-lasting impression. The riffs do not always have the space to demonstrate their entire lethal strength and some "Reign in Blood"-comparable parts end much too soon. Even the best jagged riff needs a stage, but Decimator have too many ideas and they quickly concentrate on the next sequence. Some parts of "Day of Wrath" are pure Hanneman/King-worship, but the Brazilians fail to make a song out of these sequences that can challenge their idol's classics from 1986. However, they add a grain of insanity. It sounds as if mangy dogs play their kind of Slayer-influenced thrash - the name of the record label is probably no coincidence.

As a consequence, the eruptions pave the way for an enormous portion of hate, anger and rage. The album does not lack intensity and the band is clever enough to vary the tempo in order to get a dynamic overall impression. The pinpoint production meets high standards and the young-Mille-like barking of the lead vocalist accompanies the violent leads and riffs in an adequate way. From my point of view, the passion of the dudes makes up for the small song-writing deficiencies that prevent a higher impact of the songs. This is still great and pretty brutal thrash that does not intend to take prisoners, so if you are a genius and you suffer from the fact that the rest of the world is simply too stupid for you, Decimator can crush your bothersome brain cells in a matter of minutes. But even if you are just a normal dude, these dudes can show you how merciless thrash metal works. I am sorry that I cannot recommend single highlights, because these whirlwind clouds my perception. Anyway, I can assure you that these 30 minutes will let you forget any other drug you actually like to consume.

Rating: 8 out of 10