UMUR
"Warning Blast" is the debut full-length studio album by multi-national death metal act Siege of Power. The album was released through Metal Blade Records in September 2018. Siege of Power formed in the Netherlands, and was originally called First Class Elite and existed from 2013 to 2014. The band was revived in 2017 under the Siege of Power monicker with the addition of American lead vocalist Chris Reifert (Autopsy, Abscess, The Ravenous). So as if it wasn´t enough that Siege of Power features prolific Dutch death metal musicians Theo van Eekelen (Grand Supreme Blood Court, Hail of Bullets, Thanatos), Bob Bagchus (Grand Supreme Blood Court, Asphyx, Soulburn), and Paul Baayens (Asphyx, Thanatos, Hail of Bullets), the addition of Reifert ensures even further old school death metal star quality to the project.
Stylistically the material on "Warning Blast" is predominantly hardcore/punk infused old school death metal, but the album also features mid-paced tracks/sections and even some slow doom/death metal parts. There is some pretty great lead guitar work on the album, which wasn´t something I expected to hear, from the description of the music above. The lead parts and well played guitar solos are a great asset to the music, and ensure some variation and memorability. Most tracks are relatively simple featuring both death metal riffs and some tracks croosover hardcore/thrash metal riffs and rhythms, while Reifert delivers a strong and quite diverse vocal performance. He both performs growling death metal vocals and more intelligible raw thrash metal type vocals. The latter are still in the most raw and death metal oriented end of the thrash metal spectrum, but definitely crossover thrash metal influenced.
"Warning Blast" features a raw but clear and detailed sounding production job, which makes the album a relatively accessible release in the genre. 20 tracks and a total playing time of 46:22 minutes may scare some people off, but "Warning Blast" is an enjoyable and entertaining album throughout. Siege of Power have not set out to revolutionize the world of death metal with "Warning Blast" and they certainly don´t, but they´ve managed to release a strong and consistent hardcore/punk infused death metal album, with just enough musical surprises to deserve a 3.5 star (70%) rating.