Impact - Dew-Scented

Dew-Scented- Impact
( I won't review all the songs; there are a few songs I am not too sure about)

I bought this album more than a few years ago now; when I picked up any album I could find and hoped I liked it! I was just pretty lucky when I stumbled across this album as it helped to solidify my continuing interest in thrash and death metal. Without this album I wouldn't even contemplate facing the death metal genre. It is a ...
...is extremely listenable. I bought Impact for its high reviews and I wasn't disappointed at all.

The aggressive brutality of '''' 'Acts of Rage' ''' 'starts off at the first second, not wasting a second with slow and calm openings; no, that is not worth it on this album! If you're going to open up an album, start it off with the most memorable and headbang-able track, which is what I would say that Dew-Scented has done here. In comparison ... more

Dew-Scented- Impact
( I won't review all the songs; there are a few songs I am not too sure about)

I bought this album more than a few years ago now; when I picked up any album I could find and hoped I liked it! I was just pretty lucky when I stumbled across this album as it helped to solidify my continuing interest in thrash and death metal. Without this album I wouldn't even contemplate facing the death metal genre. It is a stepping stone from thrash metal to death metal. What surprises me is that this band brings nothing new to the genre but it still has a special place in my heart.

Line-up
Florian Müller - Lead Guitars
Hendrik Bache - Lead Guitars & Bass
Leif Jensen - Vocals
Uwe Werning - Drums

Why do I like this album in particular? The aggressive high-intensity that is full of energy that is extremely listenable. I bought Impact for its high reviews and I wasn't disappointed at all.

The aggressive brutality of ' 'Acts of Rage' 'starts off at the first second, not wasting a second with slow and calm openings; no, that is not worth it on this album! If you're going to open up an album, start it off with the most memorable and headbang-able track, which is what I would say that Dew-Scented has done here. In comparison to their other works; I sensed this was much more technical achievement and they took a slightly more maturer approach to their songs. The riffs are in full flow here and it is unrelentless!

1. Acts of Rage
2. New Found Pain
3. Destination Hell
4. Soul Poison
5. Cities of the Dead
6. Down my neck
7. One by One
8. Agony Designed
9. Slaughtervein
10. Flesh Reborn
11. 18 hours.

'New Found Pain' is a pretty thrash-y song, and thrashes in a similar fashion as the first song; the riffs are pretty sharp and fast, the drumming is so quick it is unbelievable that it is drummed by a live human; which is done by Uwe Werning who has now left the band. The most amazing moment in this song is around the 1 minute mark, where Leif belts out ' Welcome New Found Pain!' along with the soaring guitar riffs at the same time, it is spellbinding. It is one of my favourite songs and the band Dew-Scented dedicated this song to me while playing it at a gig! <3

'Destination Hell' is also one of the strongest songs on the album even with its short song length but it has more of an impact than the other songs. It starts off with a mini-drum solo that progressively combines with thrashy riffs, this isn't a song to miss out on.

'Soul Poison' is a very slayer-orientated song with well known Slayer mannerism of squealing the guitar strings. This is not necessarily a bad thing; Slayer is where this band draw their main influence from but this doesnt mean they sound like Slayer! This song also has amazing thrash riffs and it is extremely aggressive, the combination of the aggressiveness and the lyrics makes for a pretty fun song to listen to.

'Cities of the Dead' is also one of the highlights on the album; it starts off with quiet, not aggressive riffs but as time goes along, they get progressively faster and faster. The drums really complement the guitar riffs here and make for an enjoyable listen. One 'epic' moment in this song is where /Retribution - Absolution go! / is shouted out by Leif, all the instruments come into harmony with each other and make for a memorable song.

'Slaughtervein' and 'Agony Designed' - again you can hear the fast and high intensity of the drummer here.

One of the main problems with this album is the lack of variation, don't get me wrong. I love this album but if I spin it album by album, it tends to blend together as nothingness by the 5th/6th song. They are all still pummelling riff-fests in all the songs but it just tends to run together. However, this is avoided if you just listen to one song, then listen to a different band, then get back to this one. No album is without their flaws.

This album displays the tightness of the members together; they have worked hard at their craft and mastered it for years. They know what they are doing and they do not stray too far from what they know that absolutely works. However, a tiny tiny weeny bit of experimentation could go far for this band.

The lyrical themes are normally about violence, society and anger and complements the aggressive intensity of the music itself. It is not the best lyrics but it fits well.

What I like about this band is that they carry on the theme of using the letter 'I' in their album and this is their 5th album, they have released a further 2 albums too. This is rather similar to Morbid Angel who have adopted a method of progressive albums from the beginning starting with the letter A then B and so on.

They take on influences from Slayer, German thrash bands in their area, and several death metal bands to combine an almost unique sound; they bring nothing new to the genre but they show that with some innovation and creativity, they can bring something slightly unique to the two genres. Some of the highlights of this album is the amount of riffs, aggressiveness, the lyrical themes and the insane speed of the drummer. It is absolutely insane.

Stand-out tracks: Acts of Rage, New Found Pain, Destination Hell, Cities of the Dead.

I bought this CD on-line several years ago at its full import price of £15 or so off Amazon. I also accept that this album is not for all; avoid at all costs if you've only dipped your toes into metal with Iron Maiden/ Metallica at the most. 

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