Review by Greg on December 9, 2025.

By now, it's clear 2025 is gonna go down in history books as a notably thrashing year. I'd also call it a year of comebacks, in this regard. For example, a new Testament album isn't great news by now (but is certainly a great album), especially when compared to new full-lengths by Violator, Vindicator, or even Dark Angel or Coroner. Among these more or less illustrious returns, New Jersey brutal thrashers Condition Critical recently joined that club with their new effort Degeneration Chamber, nine years after Extermination Plan was met with enthusiastic reception...

...and to be fair, I should say I never understood much of it. Even their long-standing 'Demolition Hammer Jr.' nickname always perplexed me, as a huge fan of the real deal – I've long been convinced it was actually coined by someone who thought 'oh wait, I know another band playing thrash and talking about medical stuff", and as such I was going to inevitably approach Degeneration Chamber with a somewhat sceptical attitude. Nevertheless, I figured that, at worst, I would enjoy half an hour of something to bash my skull to and distract the negative thoughts I'm drenched in. Whether I'd have been able to remember something out of it or not, then, was anybody's guess.

In any case, we get another collection of stories of that little rascal Dr. Criti-Kill (a pun that shouldn't have lasted this long) to sink our teeth into. The salient points of the band's sound, such as the massively beefy guitars, the dominant bass (which is pretty much a constant in every album Mike Dreher plays on), the unrelenting drumming, and the brute vocals, are all back in full force. Also, for once, it's worth noting that the second half is the strongest part of the album – like the guys were still a bit rusty from the long studio inactivity, and they proceeded to gradually shake it off as songs went by. But really, from 'Postmortal Simulation' onwards, it's almost like another album starts. The tempo changes are more successful, like also 'Excarnation' confirms, while 'Psychological Epidemic' is way more engaging already from its creative intro riff, and also supplies a generous dose of blast beats, and 'Incubation Disposal' sees Tony Barhoum finally letting loose an honestly great solo, the kind I'd been waiting for the whole album.

This obviously means that the earlier tracks basically go in one ear and out the other. There are other moments where I can feel some of that Bronx-wannabe groove, like 'Deconstructive Horrors', but nothing else to grasp onto, complicating the feat of distinguishing between tracks (the especially similar 'Wretched Aggression' and 'Cranial Dissolution' don't help in this regard). I keep returning to the nickname matter, and I know I'm probably making a bigger deal out of it than it actually is, but the fact that I can't foresee anything sticking in my mind even after three full listens is worrying. It's not that Demolition Hammer themselves were masters of the vocal hook art, and yet, try to tell me you don't remember the refrains in, say, '.44 Caliber Brain Surgery' (which they previously covered, incidentally, yet leaving me just as unimpressed) or 'Aborticide'. I don't get a similar treat this time.

Once again, Condition Critical have presented a work that technically has everything in its right place, and still leaves me just on the verge of loving it, without ever crossing that threshold. And I say this with full awareness of Barhoum's new Mr. Universe-like shape, and with the relative serenity that comes from being thousands of kilometres away from him, just in case he'd have liked to perform a cranial dissolution on me. But if you aren't searching for the next milestone in thrash history, Degeneration Chamber might be well worth a listen.

Rating: 7.4 out of 10