Band:	Onslaught
Album:	Origins Of Aggression
Style:	Thrash metal
Release date:	May 23, 2025
A review by:	omne metallum

Disc I
01. Thermonuclear Devastation Of The Planet Earth [Re-recorded]
02. Black Horse Of Famine [Re-recorded]
03. Angels Of Death [Re-recorded]
04. Power From Hell [Re-recorded]
05. Metal Forces [Re-recorded]
06. Let There Be Death [Re-recorded]
07. Fight With The Beast [Re-recorded]
08. Thrash Till The Death [Re-recorded]
09. In Search Of Sanity [Re-recorded]
10. Shellshock [Re-recorded]

Disc II
01. Iron Fist [Motörhead cover]
02. Holiday In Cambodia [Dead Kennedys cover]
03. A Look At Tomorrow [Discharge cover]
04. U.K. 82 [Exploited cover]
05. Freewheel Burning [Judas Priest cover]
06. Wardance [Killing Joke cover]
07. Give Me Fire [GBH cover]
08. State Violence State Control [Discharge cover]
09. Holidays In The Sun [Sex Pistols cover]
10. Emotional Blackmail [UK Subs cover]
11. War Pigs [Black Sabbath cover]
12. Drunk With Power [Discharge cover]

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Now if there are two things that usually signal a band running low on inspiration, it's the decision to release either a covers album or re-recordings of their old material, so Onslaught's decision to combine the two on Origins Of Aggression should sound alarm bells loud like thunder. Nevertheless, released to celebrate 40 years since their debut full length Power From Hell, Onslaught take listeners on a trip down memory lane without relying on nostalgia to sell the experience.

Split across two discs (assuming you aren't *gasp* streaming!), the first is a chronological re-recorded run through the band's 1980s output, and is largely the weaker of the two discs, while the second contains a series of covers that the band would play and jam in their early days, and is the more interesting of the two. Why is the first the weaker of the two? Well, it falls into the same pitfalls that many a re-recorded album does, namely trading in that youthful energy and lo-fi charm for a more precise and sterile version. I've long mused at the idea of doing an article on re-recorded albums, as they often all fall into this exact same trap; that said, I would be inclined to rank Origins Of Aggression as one of the better examples, given it falls atop the bodies of all the ones that have tried and failed before it, so it doesn't fall as far in comparison. How does it avoid this fate? The raw and, well, aggressive updated production suits Onslaught's sound well; "Fight With The Beast" sounds so powerful that you can't help but enjoy it, while "Angels Of Death" has a bombastic sound that does have its own appeal.

The second disk is where Origins Of Aggression gets interesting; while some choices (like Motörhead's "Iron Fist") are obvious, it's when the band throw curveballs like Killing Joke's "Wardance" and GBH's "Give Me Fire" that it piques the interest. Depending on what you look for in a cover (a reinterpretation of an existing song, or a straight copy of it) will determine how much you enjoy it, but there are a few decent tracks to be found here, chief among them "A New Tomorrow" thanks to Perry's explosive drums being pushed so high in the mix and just sounding like pounding thunder. However, Onslaught do highlight an all too common issue of metal bands covering punk songs like Dead Kennedys' "Holiday In Cambodia" and Sex Pistols' "Holidays In The Sun" (I'm sensing a theme here), in that their focus on making it metal completely overlooks and erases the snide and sarcastic delivery of the originals.

The one constant weak point across both discs is Garnett's vocals, suffering the same pitfalls he did on Generation Antichrist, namely his delivery is one dimensional and monotonous after a while. While it is not off-putting, it doesn't elevate the tracks by the same merit.

As a bonus album, there could be worse ways to celebrate such a milestone in a long and successful career; Origins Of Aggression will keep your hunger for new material abated for a while longer before the band (hopefully sooner rather than later) produce their next original full length album.