Siege of Power – This is Tomorrow Review

A death metal supergroup featuring members of Autopsy, Asphyx, and Hail of Bullets floating in the promo bin unguarded? I best grab that one for safekeeping! And so Steel didith claim the sophomore outing by Siege of Power. While their debut was a very uneven affair without truly memorable moments, what these super fiends opted to do on This is Tomorrow is much more interesting. There’s still a punky crossover vibe to some of the material, but there’s also a greater willingness to cross-pollinate genres and explore different soundscapes, making for a surprisingly diverse set of tunes. Crust, doom, black, and classic heavy metal are all tossed into the cauldron and seasoned with raw death miso and a completely bonkers vocal performance by Autopsy’s Chris Reifert that just has to be heard to be appalled by. Not everything attempted ends up a smashing success, but the throw-everything-at-the-killing-floor approach results in a wild listen with a few monster tunes to disturb your fragile psyche.

Siege of Power open the album by sieging you with power on “Force Fed Fear” which is half crust punky death and half vintage Gorgoroth. It’s a vicious blend of extreme tropes and it hits like a commercial dump truck and then comes back around to eliminate witnesses. The riffs are violent and blackened and Reifert is in full rabid fungus monster mode. “Sinister Christians”1 is like Toxic Holocaust with better playing and features some effectively dark, doomy interludes amid the high-octane thrashing and bashing. This shit is fun and ugly (fungly). “Scavengers” is an unlikely high point with righteous 80s metal riffs chugging away, fist pumping and throwing horns as Reifert has a complete nervous breakdown while channeling Animal from The Muppet Show. It’s really fucking awkward and bizarre but its over-the-top silliness is undeniably amusing.

Another standout moment is the complete and total Bathory worship of “Deeper Wounds” where Reifert does his very best Quorthon impression backed by bold, epical riffs that could have been on Hammerheart. It’s shockingly accurate and really good. Elsewhere, “The Devil’s Grip” is pure Mötörhead in sound and spirit but with death and black edges implanted. It may come a wee bit too close to “Iron Fist” but hey. I also personally love the weirdness of “As the World Crumbles” due to its proximity to Necronomicon’s long-forgotten and mostly unheard 1986 debut that I loved so dearly as a teen.2 Not every song is a world eater and some feel a bit generic (“Oblivion, “No Salvation”), but nothing is outright bad and the sheer diversity of approach from cut to cut keeps things lively and unpredictable. With most tracks in the 3-4 minute window and the album only running 40-plus minutes, it flies by in a berserk fury.

As he often is with his main band, Chris Reifert is the star of the show due to his completely unhinged vocalizing. Since the musical palette is broader here than what he normally works with, Reifert really gets to go full maniac and embrace black and crust-punk styles. Though he sounds like a cartoon character at times, he provides a steady stream of awesomely extreme and deranged grunts, gurgles and groans sure to thrill the sick and twisted. Paul Baayens (Asphyx, Thanatos, ex-Hail of Bullets) serves up an impressive menu of cutting, slicing riffs borrowed from several genres. The classic death leads are good, and his sojourns into black riffage are impressive as well. I’m also a fan of the morose doom moments he wedges into cuts like “Deeper Wounds.” Bob Bagchus (Grand Supreme Blood Court, ex-Asphyx, ex-Soulburn) lays down a concussive wall of force on his kit and is fully supported by the fat bass of Theo van Eekelen (Grand Supreme Blood Court, ex-Hail of Bullets). This is a highly seasoned outfit and they know how to craft rowdy tunes regardless of the chosen genre.

This is Tomorrow is a mixed bag of infected nuts with some high and low points, but it’s much more entertaining than the last outing. As supergroups go, Siege of Power exceed expectations this time and give us a fun platter that takes some chances while still wearing its members’ influences loudly and proudly. Tomorrow is now, olde man!


Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Metal Blade
Websites: siegeofpowermetal.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/profile.php
Releases Worldwide: February 17th, 2023

Show 2 footnotes

  1. No, not the Night Ranger song.
  2. Seriously, go find that album. It sounds like vintage Destruction played by a completely hammered Venom and it’s an absolute riot. Cuts like “Possessed by Evil,” “Blind Destruction,” and “Magic Forest” are hidden gems you need in your life.
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