UMUR
"Planet Pandemonium" is the fifth full-length studio album by French thrash/death metal act Loudblast. The album was released through Boycott Records in February 2004. It´s the successor to "Fragments" from 1998 and it features two lineup changes since the predecessor as bassist François Jamin has been replaced by Alex Lenormand and guitarist Nicolas Leclercq has been replaced by Alex Colin-Tocquaine.
Stylistically the material on "Planet Pandemonium" is completely different from the groove oriented metal style with throathy semi-growling/shouting vocals, which Loudblast played on "Fragments (1998)". In fact it´s so different that it could well be two different bands having recorded the two releases. "Planet Pandemonium" is closer in style to "Sublime Dementia (1993)", although "Planet Pandemonium" features a more clear, powerful, and sharp sound production. It´s technically well played thrash/death metal with both heavy groove oriented sections and death/thrashy riff sections. Most tracks are mid-paced and heavy, but there are also a couple of faster-paced tracks on the album (album opener "Bow Down" is an example of that). The vocals are intelligible semi-growling/raw throaty thrash metal type vocals and are well performed, suiting the instrumental part of the music.
"Planet Pandemonium" features a powerful and well sounding production too, so upon conclusion it´s a quality release by Loudblast and a welcome comeback after their long hiatus. If I have to mention one issue related to the album, it´s the same issue I´ve had with most of Loudblast preceding releases. The riffs and the songwriting in general are simply too standard for the genre, and not memorable enough. There´s nothing of bad quality here or anything like that, but Loudblast just don´t stand out on the scene with what they have to offer. Still a 3.5 star (70%) rating isn´t all wrong.