Assassin - Breaking the Silence
SPV
Thrash Metal
10 songs (43:12)
Release year: 2011
SPV
Reviewed by Thomas

Assassin had one bright and shining moment back in the eighties with their awesome début The Upcoming Terror, which undeservedly got overshadowed by albums such as Pleasure to Kill, Zombie Attack, Obsessed by Cruelty and Eternal Devastation respectively by fellow Germans Kreator, Tankard, Sodom and Destruction. From there, things went downhill, and while Interstellar Experience was fairly good, the band split up for many years, reunited, and released The Club which was a complete shit comeback attempt back in 2005, but people familiar with the band knew them for their ruthless blend of heavy metal and vicious thrash. The band enjoyed a few years of fame back in the day before they had to split up due to stolen equipment and no money to get new gear. Lets hope they have some kind of insurance for their coat-of-arms nowadays, because Breaking the Silence invites to a dance of fucking bullets.

Before I bought this, I heard that the opener, the title-track, was worth the purchase alone. It's raw, heavy as a mountain and blazingly fast. In fact, it may just be one of the best songs this band has ever written. Robert Gonnella sounds fantastic, and delivers rotten line after rotten line, drenched in thundering despair and a gurgling anger you rarely hear nowadays. The riffs are destroying anything in their way backed up by an arsenal of head-bashing drumming that will leave you battered and bruised in a bloodied ditch. Raise The Dark continues in the exact same brutal manner, with mind-blowing axeman-ship, excellent vocal work and violently precise and solid rhythm work. Following up is the intense Judas, which is climaxes in some Slayer-like flurry of solos and an shout-along, slashing chorus that rips limbs off unsuspecting people. However, after the just as mad Turf War and slow, awesome stomping, shape-shifting Destroy the State , things take an unsuspecting turn for the, eh, worse. By all means, the upcoming aren't bad at all, but why the hell the band choose to include songs from The Club is beyond me. Both No Fear and Real Friends are lacklustre compared to the heaps of quality this album has to offer. Kill Or be Killed is more in the same vein of the aforementioned awesomeness, but not quite up there in terms of quality. Strike Back has a bit of groove mixed into it, but is still chock full of thrash. I Like Cola ends the killing spree on a rather silly note, drawing parallels to the simple riffs off of punk and the stupid, yet entertaining lyrics of Tankard.

There's a bit of a punky attitude to this album that have enthralled my attention. The guitar-work in particular reminds me of certain crossover bands, and feeds moderately off the punk influence this genre already possess. I can't pin-point any songs, but I get the overall feel that if this album was stripped down more sound-wise it would be a thrashed up punk album. In addition to that, Gonnella brings an undeniable, not-so-decent behaviour to the table that makes the relation even more apparent even though I can't figure out exactly what it is that makes it conclusive or not. Anyway, all pondering aside, this is an album you should get your hands on if you're a fan of violently conducted, fast, ass-kicking thrash with a really fat sound. It'll chop your head of.

Killing Songs :
Breaking the Silence, Raise the Dark, Judas, Destroy the State
Thomas quoted 84 / 100
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