What Domination Campaign, a duo comprised of Psycroptic bandmates Jason Peppiatt (vocals, guitar, bass) and Joe Haley (drums), have tried to do with A Storm Of Steel (Prosthetic Records) is craft a Death Metal record that reveals the perils and horrors of war (World War II, in particular) in a way that is less sensationalist, and more raw and real.
Musically, there are high points to this album. Grainy guitar tones and enduring harsh vocals meld together quite well; Peppiatt does a serviceable job pairing his one-two punch, and there is also an element of groove mixed in with a hearty helping of burly chugs.
However, A Storm Of Steel quickly descends into a vanilla performance with vague, surface-level track names (“Time To Die”, “Storm The Lines”), and the resulting eight tracks feel ill-conceived, while the persistence of empty space within some of the songs staunches any flow or identity.
“D-Day” curiously features quite a bit of fluff and the lead guitar solo is mixed in lower than the drums and rhythm guitar. “The Iron Beast” likewise falls victim to wasting some of the time it was allotted.
In addition, the lyrics themselves fail to demonstrate more than scant knowledge or a very basic understanding of the subject. It wouldn’t be such a thorn in the side if the album wasn’t presented as “depict(ing) the atrocities experienced – both on a grand scale and the more personal, intimate terror of conflict.”
Thus, on the one end is the fanbase that yearns for cymbals crashing, strings shrieking and voices eviscerating. But on the other end is the fanbase that may have been intrigued by the themes and content presented, thinking the full-length was going to be a much more involved and delicate deep-dive.
As always, kudos to artists who branch out and try something new, because there’s more than enough of the same old same old.
Unfortunately, though, A Storm Of Steel is a victim of either needing more time or more understanding of the concepts outlined throughout.
And the unbalanced musical accompaniment stymies any hope the record had of presenting something fresh, insightful and captivating.
Buy the album here:
https://lnk.to/DominationCampaign
6 / 10
MATT COOK