Warbringer – Woe To The Vanquished – Album Review

Source // Warbringer - Woe To The Vanquished

When your band is called Warbringer it’s almost set in stone that you’re going to play some vicious fucking thrash metal! Fortunately for us, that is exactly what these oiks do with their fifth album Woe To The Vanquished.

This is a thoroughly nasty wee album that has no time for ‘niceties’ throughout the course of its eight songs. Like a well honed military unit, the band simply get the job done with no fucking about. Kicking off with “Silhouettes”, the lads lay down their marker straight away with a barrage of drums, muscular riffs and the hoarse bark of vocalist John Kevill giving it a bit more of an extreme edge. To these ears at least, there is a definite nod to Sepultura – circa Beneath The Remains – in the bands passionste but raw delivery.

There is a problem however. These songs are just not really that memorable. It’s all well and good firing out one bullish riff after another but you really need the hooks to back it up and these are sorely lacking.

That is until the second half of the album, where Warbringer finally take some chances on “Descending The Blade” and “Spectral Asylum” with guitarists Chase Becker and Adam Carroll stretching themselves out with some deft playing. Warbringer save the best to last though with the 11 minute epic “When The Guns Fell Silent”, which for the most part is mid paced but then charges through the gears and shows what they are truly capable of.

All in all, Woe To The Vanquished is an ok album, it’s never going to change the world and that’s fine because not every album can be a game-changer. If you want something to just throw on and give the old neck muscles a good once-over then this could be the album for you, however if you want a bit more from your thrash then you’re better off looking elsewhere. 5/10