OXYGEN DESTROYER — Spawned by the Horrors of Thermonuclear Warfare (review)

OXYGEN DESTROYER — Spawned by the Horrors of Thermonuclear Warfare album cover

Boxset / Compilation · 2022 · Thrash Metal

3.5/5 · 2024-12-23
UMUR

"Spawned by the Horrors of Thermonuclear Warfare" is a compilation album by US, Seattle, Washington based death/thrash metal act Oxygen Destroyer. The compilation was released through Sewer Rot Records in July 2022. It bridges the gap between Oxygen Destroyer´s second- and third full-length studio albums "Sinister Monstrosities Spawned by the Unfathomable Ignorance of Humankind" (2021) and "Guardian of the Universe" (2024).

The compilation features eight tracks and a total playing time of 22:50 minutes. The material is culled from various demos and split releases from the period 2015-2019. It´s not a compilation featuring all rarity/minor release tracks from Oxygen Destroyer, which is actually a bit weird since the playing time is so short. They could easilay have put the missing tracks from the period on the tracklist and still kept the album length under 30 minutes. The tracks which are missing are "Atomic Breath" from the 2015 debut demo and the 2017 one-track single song "Vanquished by the Unrelenting Devastation of the Celestial Behemoth". Other than those two tracks you get everything on this compilation recorded and released by Oxygen Destroyer in the 2015-2019 period except the material from their 2018 debut full-length studio album "Bestial Manifestations of Malevolence and Death". "Vanquished by the Unrelenting Devastation of the Celestial Behemoth" however appears on the debut album and "Atomic Breath" also appears in a re-recorded version, along with re-recorded versions of some of the tracks featured on this compilation.

Stylistically Oxygen Destroyer play a relentlessly aggressive death/thrash metal style with a rabid dog snarling vocalist in front. It´s a music style which was at its peak in the late 80s/early 90s with artists like Merciless, Demolition Hammer, and early Vader leading the pack. Since then there have from time to time appeared a new act playing the style, but Oxygen Destroyer are among the more prolific contemporary artists dedicated to playing death/thrash metal and they sound almost one to one like a band from the late 80s/early 90s period, both when it comes to compositional style, the performances, and the sound production choices.

The quality of the material featured on this compilation differs slightly. Not so much when it comes to the songwriting and the performances of the material, but when it comes to the production quality of the various tracks. It´s however predominantly "Relentless Desire for Nuclear Radiation" from the December 2015 demo, which stands out because of the crude, chaotic, and raw sounding demo production. The two other tracks from the same demo which are also included here, do no appear in the demo versions of the tracks, but instead in the re-recordings which were originally featured on the September 2016 "Saurian Warfare" split with Carnotaurus.

Upon conclusion "Spawned by the Horrors of Thermonuclear Warfare" is a good quality compilation of minor release tracks from the early period of Oxygen Destroyer´s discography, and although a few tracks are missing, you still get some great and raw early versions of tracks which would later appear in re-recorded form on "Bestial Manifestations of Malevolence and Death" and a few rarities too which the band never re-recorded. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is warranted.