Review by Felix on June 3, 2019.

Run for cover, the comedians called Lich King enter the stage for the third time. I fear another dose of pretty nonsensical, sometimes "funny" thrash that does absolutely not meet my sense of humor. But lo and behold, already the intro called - great idea - "Intro" attracts my attention. Firstly, the album scores with a powerful and aggressive sound, well-balanced, clean, but not sterile. In its best moments, the record confronts the audience with a wall of sound that leaves no chance to escape. Secondly, already the first tones of the opening riff have a serious, nearly dramatic touch and the rasping guitar connect the intro with the first regular song in a convincing manner. Still better, "Act of War" spreads energetic vibes, does not lack speed and relies on its massive power. The double bass does not sleep, the guitars know only one direction - forward - and solely the lead vocalist does not surpass an ordinary level. Nevertheless, he presents his best performance so far. Good start, especially when you do not have great expectations...

Tracks like "A Storm of Swords" connect rapid sections with heavyweight mid-tempo riffing and reveal a certain depth that was missing on the former outputs. Moreover, although this track almost reaches the seven minutes mark, it does not lack substance. The band avoids repetitive patterns, and this lends World Gone Dead a further positive element. It is an ironic twist of fate that the fifth track is called "Waste". Such a song name would have been nearly programmatic for the first albums, but here it has actually no right of existence. Apart from this rather academic debate, this song is not immune against a typical weakness of Lich King: they celebrate velocity for the sake of, well, velocity. That's no cardinal sin, yet I do not know why they do this more or less absurd tempo again and again ("Behaver" points in the same direction). Sometimes it is more useful to give the riffs, leads and lines some room to breathe. Nevertheless, the song-writing has reached a much better level than before. It's no painstaking task to listen to the entire album and I wish I could say the same with regard to each and every work of the dudes.

Tempestuous eruptions such as "Terror Consumes" leave a proper trail of devastation, because they find the right balance between high speed and the sufficient quantum of melodic elements, but a pretty lenient number ("Grindwheel") also scores with its coherent riffing. As a result, the cover version of Slayer does not mark the undisputable climax of the output and I admit that I thought I would have to write the exact opposite before I dived into the album. Of course, Tom Martin does not have five percent of the demonic aura of the young Tom Araya,. The only thing they have in common is their first name - but this is not the crucial fact here. More relevant is that Lich King's own compositions show a competitive design. I still like their instrumental parts more than those where Martin stands in the foreground. Anyway, I can recommend this full-length to the freaks of the sub-genre. It's no milestone, but a solidly constructed work. You have run for cover? Why the hell did you do so? Come on, climb from the depths of your shelter, to quote Exciter, and lend an ear to World Gone Dead.

Rating: 7 out of 10

Review by Felix on August 14, 2019.

Total Hate are an example for the kind of evolution I like. They did not modify their style until they played a completely different form of metal, they just improved their skills within the given frame. No doubt, there was plenty of room for improvement after the half-baked debut. Anyway, Total Hate have taken the right decisions during the last years and already the opener of their fourth full-length presents a riff which does not lack recognition value. The band accelerates the tempo and a pretty stormy black metal track unfolds. The production, this is also getting clear very quickly, has found the right balance between underground doctrines and hi-fi transparency and given this situation, I am motivated to dive deeply into the entire album.

The musicians still create martial, raw black metal which does not lack brutality or meanness. They have found the key to pen effective leads and the aura of the music matches the lyrical content. "Thou Shalt Kill (Killing Spree Unleashed)" speaks volumes in this respect, but let's stay at this song for a moment. The drummer intersperses some interesting figures and even if some might say this is just an irrelevant detail, I am of the opinion that this performance indicates a more meticulous approach of the band. No matter which side you choose, this is another great song that reflects the spirit of the old black metal Gods. By contrast, the following "Raven Wings & Witchcraft Spells" has to struggle in order to keep the quality level. Its riff is good, but it has been heard many times before. In addition, the mid-paced parts do not have the effect they should create and the gloomy guitars during the instrumental sequence does not send shivers down my spine.

No doubt, the stylish artwork mirrors the influences of the band. Norwegian pioneers such as Darkthrone and Immortal have left their mark (the partly mighty mid-paced closer comes straight out of Blashyrkh). The cruel voice and the vigorous leads reanimate the force of those pioneers in their early days and the quasi-title track "His Throne Beyond a Black Veil" is a worthy flagship of this work. It’s almost solemn atmosphere brings the best moments of Sweden's Pest into my mind. Nevertheless, usually the dudes from Nuremburg prefer a pretty rumbling yet professional approach. With very few exceptions, the songs are convincing and add value to the global scene with its roughly 50.000 underground combos. If you do not have much time, test the shortest track here, "Death Raid Apocalypse". Despite its pretty stupid title, it shows that Total Hate are able to manage fast-paced, compact tunes as well as their usually longer pieces. Perhaps they increase the number of this kind of songs in the future? This would be another type of evolution I appreciate.

Rating: 7.9 out of 10