Review by Felix on August 14, 2022.

It’s sad. It’s sad to see a band with an enormous potential that releases a (solid) album far below its capacities. It’s sad to listen to the new material of a band that can nail hammering outbursts full of anger into your ears, but instead of doing so, it prefers to meander between strict, powerful eruptions and lukewarm melody-stamped compositions. Defiatory, you guessed it, is one of these combos that jumps short for the second time in a row. If they go on this way, we will never get anything as good as Extinct again. And that's sad.

The Swedes, that’s for sure, are still able to write pure thrash killers. 'Only War' is a fantastic whirlwind full of double bass, razor-sharp riffing and powerful vocals. The apocalyptic chorus crowns the track and the lyrics are also great. “Broken legions watch the enemy arrive” – this picture characterizes the entire aura of the song. No doubt, to make this song the first one available on youtube was no coincidence. But how many songs of this quality can we find on Apokalyps? 'No Place To Hide' is driven by Slayer-riffs, but this eargasm ends already after two minutes. 'Let Them Burn' lives up to its name and generates a fiery heat. Only trace elements of softness appear.

On the other hand, there are nearly tired sounding pieces like 'Knives' (total throwaway track) or 'Assassinate' which derails during the overly harmonic chorus. They lack aggression, vehemence and intensity. Perhaps I witness the revival of the sub-genre “radio-friendly thrash” (read: no thrash at all) that was once invited with “Enter Sandman”. Frankly, I could do without this experience. Between these poles you have the so-so tracks like the (representative?) opener. It delivers some parts full of pressure and power, but also a meaningless atmospheric intermezzo. More or less the same applies to the closer; it begins in a vehement way, but it also presents some Maiden-esque lines during its second half. Somehow the beginning and the end show sustainably that the here collected material is not free of laxity. I am not sure what the mixed portfolio says about the authenticity of the musicians. But I don’t want to offend anyone and at least their manual skills are beyond doubt (as it is more or less always the case when it comes to Swedish musicians.)

The production does not disgrace the metal-exporting country Sweden. Apokalyps has enough muscles to stand up to comparisons in technical terms. However, the music is the crucial factor. Maybe I expected too much and no, Apokalyps is no bad output. It’s just not what I wanted it to be. Maybe I am the problem, who knows? Anyway, I want my kind of thrash pure, musically violent and sticking to the old school yet fresh. Defiatory plays partly a bit differently while with one eye always squinting for new scenarios. It’s sad.

Rating: 7.2 out of 10

Review by Allan on July 22, 2003.

Inside the metal circles, Australia's Berzerker has made quite a little name for themselves as an intensely brutal machine that pounds out death metal riffs as fast as they do electronic accompaniment. Their industrialized grindcore/death metal pummeled the ears of eager new listeners with their debut self-titled album 2000, and now 2002 these cyber warriors are back with their follow-up, "Dissimulate."

As with most death metal, most albums fail to offer a progression or maturation between albums. For Berzerker, they have kind of fallen victim to this, yet at the same time haven't. "Dissimulate" is more or less a second serving of their debut album; brutal death metal riffs ravaging through your speakers while somebody is screaming their head off in the most guttural of ways. However, to the credit of Berzerker, "Dissimulate" is a more concise and focused album. The songs are well written, and despite the fact that the intensity of Berzerker has worn off now that we've grown accustomed to their sound, they band is still a lesson in what cacophony is all about. Berzerker truly know how to put together a dark and grim album.

There are a few elements of Berzerker that listeners will either love or hate. First off all, seeing as Berzerker have an industrial edge to them, the drummer uses a specialized distorted kick drum. Their drummer is definitely a very skilled musician, but I don't quite see the point in the electronic sound of this drum. It tends to get on nerves if you pay too much attention to it, and it's hard not to seeing as it's blasting away for nearly the entire duration of this album. The other element that some might find either enjoyable or off-putting is the traditional grind use of samples. Throughout "Dissimulate" you'll run into them in various places. Thankfully they never really interrupt the music in too great of a manner, and they are brief.

Bottom Line: If you enjoyed Berzerker's debut to the extent that you feel it warrants further exploration into their music, then by all means, pick up "Dissimulate." It's a far stronger record and definitely gets the job done. For the rest of the extreme music listeners, approach Berzerker with a bit of apprehension, but they could really impress you.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 8
Atmosphere: 7
Production: 7
Originality: 8
Overall: 7

Rating: 7.4 out of 10