13th May 2024

Review: “Last Blood” by Warside

A growing concern since 2018, a new burnt offering from Lyon France Death Metal institution Warside finds them joined by a pair of intriguing guest musicians for one new track and a cover of a classic. The first of those musicians is Vulcain lead guitarist Christian Fredriksson but it’s the second who is the biggest surprise. While not perhaps a household name, Krzysztof Klingbein of Polish Black Metal act Totenmesse has been around the block a few times, playing live with Belphegor, Vader and Batushka to name but a few. All of that makes the pair of tracks a mouth watering prospect and more than simply a stop gap between the bands December 2022 album “The Enemy Inside” and their next record…

A track that appeared via Metal Blade Records on 2002’s “Blood Rapture” by Vomitory, the Death Metal classic “Hollow Retribution” feels like a cut that is a risk to take on. A short, fast, aggressive cut that hits like a feral savage, it requires skill and dexterity to get right which is probably why they called in a drummer of the strength of Klingbein to help give their rendition the backbone it needs. What Warside do here is nail the cut, matching the original stride for stride while bringing it up to date with modern production; faithful to the original with bursts of blast beats and stab of a short solo, it’s a whirlwind of Death Metal brutality that the band will no doubt take the live arena where it will go off like a nail bomb. An almost cinematic introduction breathes life into “Last Blood” and Rambo jokes aside, it’s an absolute powerhouse with groove orientation that sounds like it was inspired by Russian brutes God Syndrome. A ripper of a solo from Christian Fredriksson of Vulcain melts the fretboard in old school fashion before a down tempo passage of pure class brings things home, this one finds vocalist Thomas Allam threatening to reach Slam territory by the end. If these two tracks are a representation of what the next full length from Warside is going to sound like, then it’s going to be a tectonic plate shifter of a record but for now, this will do very nicely indeed [8.5/10]

Track Listing