Band:	Desaster
Album:	The Arts Of Destruction
Style:	Blackened thrash metal
Release date:	February 24, 2012
A review by:	Doc G.

01. Intro
02. The Arts Of Destruction
03. Lacerate With Hands Of Doom
04. Splendour Of The Idols
05. Phantom Funeral
06. Queens Of Sodomy
07. At Hell's Horizon
08. Troops Of Heathens - Graves Of Saints
09. Possessed And Defiled
10. Beyond Your Grace
11. Outro

Bands like Desaster are always pretty funny to think about. Judging by the sound, it almost comes at a surprise to see them on a label as relatively popular as Metal Blade, yet it comes as an even bigger surprise that it isn't a sound that sees much exposure from labels like Metal Blade.

What the fuck was that supposed to mean? Well, it's simple; Desaster play a really riff-focused form of catchy black metal, very similar to Deströyer 666 (just slightly more earthy sounding). It's not a sound that really pushed very heavily, despite it being an incredible balancing act between pure viciousness and accessibility. Yeah, it's an angry thrash black record, but man do these riffs just have ridiculous grooves to them! That's really all there is to it; hook-filled thrashed out black metal. Throw in a few Van Drunen-style gutterals, make the drums just explode, and you've got Desaster's aptly named The Arts Of Destruction.

Oh, aren't these a fine bunch of riffs? It would be nice to have more than one per song. Ok, that might be in exaggeration (in some cases, it's not), but this album does have a real repetitive feel to it. It seems like each song is built around one absolutely crushing riff, then they just beat that riff to death. This repetition doesn't make the riffs any worse, but it just makes them lose their power by the end of each song. Take away the awesome riff-work on this album, and it would be pretty weak.

The Arts Of Destruction is an amazing album at half listen. The guitar work just rips, riding atop some wrecking-ball drums, just enjoy it before the repetitive nature of the whole thing reveals itself.