
Sound exciting? Well, I was certainly on board for the first few moments as the battering mosh ready intro was cycled through samples of air raid sirens and artillery, and then into the almost Repulsion-like charge of "Bred to Kill". After this, I found myself waiting for the riffs. The forte seems to lie almost completely in the fresh, bloodied, loud production, the ominous guitar crunch, slicing if forgettable leads and the thunder of the drummer. I'm not saying there aren't any riffs, because that would be silly. Just that there are painfully few that stand up to be counted, and as the album wears on between stately late 80s Sepultura/Obituary deathly, brutal thrash ("Landbrecher 666"), grinding walls of simplistic force ("Burnt and Destroyed"), and even crawling Bolt Thrower or Asphyx crushers ("Anesthetic Death"), I just kept hoping they were going to break out something impressive.
The final pair of tracks ("Tooth and Nail", "Dropping the Tsar Bomb") are Preemptive Strikes most punishing, but even these failed to muster an appreciation beyond the loud and lauded, powerful mix. In this way, the band also reminds me of Hail of Bullets, only the Dutch are far better at composing patterns that stick with you alongside the weight of the audio. Entrenched have a firm knowledge of their subject, and the compositions certainly reflect their influences ability to transport the listener's mind to the theater of war. The samples are well placed and always serve to build some excitement for the metallic surge. It's honest butchery, with no real gimmicks about it. But in the end, they're just not coming up with strategies that yield any rewards for repeated listens, and I found myself drifting elsewhere, as if I had been ghosted by mortar fire mid-way through the battle.
Verdict: Indifference [6.25/10]
http://www.myspace.com/entrenchedusa
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