Roomservice

A little warning: this was my first death metal-album, so I may have added a few extra points to the rating just for the nostalgy. When I listened to this cd for the first time, I was very confused. Reno's drumming was something totally amazing for me, since the heaviest band I had listened by that time was probably Pantera, Bo's vokills were so brutal (they still are, though)....

The album begins with Tomorrow. In the beginning of the song we hear a choir singing some hymn. You really become anxious when you hear "fire!" from the background. That command breaks out the hell that continues until the very end of the album. The song itself is a short, aggressive piece of grind. Reno kicks the hell out of his drums and the whole song is very sweet. Absolutely one of the top notches of the album. You can listen to this song at http://www.panzerchrist.com.

After Tomorrow is finished, Creature comes in. Song starts mid-paced, but around two minutes of playing time tempo picks up and the solo comes in. After the solo comes a really cool piece of black metal, with some killer melodies from the guitars. The band uses synths in some songs to create a really great atmosphere, like in this song. Absolutely stunning, one of my favorite songs on the album.

Lies continues with the same mid-paced tempo as Creature started and is a nice song. In some songs Panzer reminds me a lot of Bolt Thrower and this song might be a good example. Recommended.

Suicide starts with a little drum solo by Reno after kicking into a blastbeat mayhem. Listen to Bo's vocals on this song, that guy is just unbelievable! In the middle of the song comes a little more mellow part with few nice melodic solos from Fredrik O' Carroll. These guys are really brutal, but they sure know where to put melodies in. Check out the solo in Evil if you don't believe me.

After Suicide comes At the Grave, maybe my favourite song on the album. A mid-paced song from the beginning until the end, but hell, this song has got more balls than a whole football team has ever seen. Do not miss this one.

The next song, Death Approaches, is IMHO the weakest song on the album. It's not a bad song, though, but it lacks in something that the other songs have. It has some cool synths creating a nice atmosphere in some parts, though.

But the seventh song is what everything is about. Panzerchrist's cover of Metal Church-song Metal Church should be entitled as the metal cover of the century. Period. Everything hits the spot on this song, Reno's drumming is once again absolutely astonishing and Bo sounds very, very mean.... they added some double bass kicks into the verse, and that little thing makes this song kick ass. All the bands doing covers from legendary songs should listen to this and think again if it was a good idea for them to cover (insert a legendary metal song here).

If Metal Church kicks ass, Roomservice rips your head off. The song starts with the sound of knocking and Bo grunting 'Roomservice'. After a few explosions the shortest song on this album is all over you with some serious grinding. This song will leave you standing confused even after when the album has ended a long time ago.

Red River is a cool mid-paced song again, with nice guitar riffs. A good song, I don't know how I could describe it more better.

The last song of this album, Evil, is a very atmospheric song (at least for me). It is a quite mid-paced song again, but the synths in the background create something bigger. The chorus sounds nearly creepy when the synths come in. It's a simple song, but it deserves it's place on the album and is a great way to end a great album.

If you're a fan of brutal death metal, you need to have this. I don't think that bands like Spawn of Possession and such are brutal, but if Panzerchrist isn't brutal, then there is no such thing. A must have.

...by this fucking album. This is some of the highest quality death metal that I've heard. Great production, kick ass riffs, deep and high vocals (that you can somewhat understand) and the drums, Panzer fucking Christ the drums! One of the reasons why I checked this band out is because I heard that Reno Killerich can do 800 bass kicks in one minute and my belief about it is definitly backed up by his drumming on this album. The drums are incredibly fast and lethal sounding, they almost sound like the tanks themselves. Another thing that stands out to me about this album is the crushing guitar tone. The album wouldn't be as heavy without it. I think it's a pretty important factor of the album.

We are first greeted by the sounds of church bells and tanks rolling down the road, and then the guitar kicks and drums kick in, but the isn't major ass kicking opening yet. After a very impressive drum fill...we hear "tomorrow, tomorrow, Tomorrow, Tomorrow, TOMORROW!" and that is when everything explodes and hits you at full force. Fast fucking blastbeats and awesome riffage are everywhere in this song. This song is pretty short though...since half of it is samples and sounds. Definitly an awesome opening to the album.

"Creature" is the song where the album really starts. More awesome double bass work and more great riffage. You hear the first lead guitar work on the album on this song as well. "Lies" is a song that I like a lot, mainly because of the beginning of it. The drum, guitar and bass chokes are heavy as fuck, not to mention the awesome riff that's playing during it. The rest of the song is fucking heavy also. "Suicide" starts out with some more great drum work. It sounds like it's coming out of a little radio at first but then everything kicks in and we're back to heavy ass sound. "At the Grave" has a riff in the middle that sounds like a riff that would appear on an early Morbid Angel album, not saying they ripped it off or anything, it just reminds me a lot of Morbid Angel's early albums, but that doesn't mean that this song isn't awesome. After "Death Approaches", Panzerchrist decides to pay tribute to Metal Church with their own version of the song "Metal Church". They do a very good job on this song. One good thing I'd like to point out about the album is that it is consistent. There aren't any weird changes in their playing that doesn't fit with the rest of the album or anything else like that, which is always a plus for me. *knock* *knock*..."room service..." *BANG BANG* *BANG BANG*!!! The title track of the album is short and very sweet. A song that is a lot like "Tomorrow", mainly because since it's short and fast the whole way through. The last two tracks "The Red River" and "Evil" are also very good.

This was my first taste of Panzerchrist, and I was very impressed indeed. First impressions are always important and the album gives an extremely good one! These danish death metallers definitly have something in store for the future of death metal.