Year: 2021
Total Time: 40:14
Label: Nuclear Blast

MASSACRE, a legendary name in the field of Old School Death Metal. Although they caused an earthquake with the release of the masterpiece “From Beyond”, the follow-up was unfortunately not the same. Αfter the release of the “Inhuman Condition” EP in 1996, they issued the inadequate album, “Promise”, and then disappeared. But the impact of the debut album and Kam Lee’s vocals was enough to give the band a legendary dimension. As a result, after a few years, they made some attempts to reunite but the strained relations between the members didn’t help the band to continue. In fact, in 2014 they released their third album, the remarkable “Back From Beyond”, (without Lee’s presence on vocals) and then they split up again.

In 2019, rumors started circulating that the band had reunited with Kam Lee on vocals and that they were recording a new album. Rumors that surprised many people, as the coexistence between Lee and Rick Rozz (original guitarist) would have been explosive because of their bad relationship. The two didn’t last long, with Rozz announcing his departure and Lee arguing with Jeramie Kling and Taylor Nordberg, who also left to form INHUMAN CONDITION. The term “new MASSACRE album” began to be described as a joke by many, as they didn’t believe it would ever be released. However, the legendary singer didn’t give up, as he found new members, with the band now being a six-piece, with three guitarists, and managed to close the mouths of his detractors by presenting “Resurgence”.

So the new album is quite predictable and, as many of us would expect, it treads on the glorious forms of “From Beyond”, without even reaching it in terms of quality, while including a remarkable set of Old School Death Metal compositions, with Lee’s characteristic vocals and a violent sound. The connection with the debut album can be found even in the song titles, such as “Spawn Of The Succubus”, “Return Of The Corpse Grinder”. In fact, the musical structures of 1991’s “Corpse Grinder”, have been the spine of “Resurgence”‘s “Book of the Dead” and “Fate of the Elder Gods”. The dynamic groove and the Thrash Metal elements maintain a balance between fast and mid-tempo parts, while we also find some influences from Swedish Death Metal. Lyrically, the album deals with Lee’s favourite themes, splatter horror films and Lovecraft’s fictional literature. As for the massive sound and the production, the man responsible is the mighty Dan Swanö.

In 2021, MASSACRE managed to refute their detractors and release a powerful Death Metal album with an old school atmosphere, justifying the musical heritage of their name! Of course, the nostalgic sentiment is pervasive, as after thirty years we have a new MASSACRE album in our hands, with a thrashing Kam Lee behind the microphone, and us going into a crazy mosh pit with tracks like “Ruins of R’Lyeh” και “Innsmouth Strain”.

Rating: 7.5/10
Editor: Nikos Manousis
Related Link: MASSACRE – Facebook Page