Review by Saxy S for Warbringer - Weapons of Tomorrow (2020)

A couple of weeks ago, I brought up the prospect of a thrash metal revival during the late 2000s and has been incredibly prominent in the 2010s in my review of the last Testament album. That observation was made primarily because of album releases by all big four thrash metal bands in a rapid period of time from 2015-16.

As is always the case, there will always be copycats, which brings us to Warbringer. They are a more recent entrant in the thrash revival scene who received some attention from me in 2017 with their album Woe to the Vanquished. I thought it was pretty bland and mostly forgettable. And now with Weapons of Tomorrow, nothing has changed.

I don't know how many times I have to say this, but I'll continue to say it until these bands figure it out: thick rhythm guitars is NOT an excuse for leaving out a prominent bass line! Many of these songs lack any forward momentum without it and the tracks feel like they just keep going without evolution because the guitars are never given the room or space to build upon their foundations. "Heart of Darkness" is the only track that understands this and the shape of that song is rewarding and exciting.

The music itself is pretty lacking in originality. Warbringer are wearing their influences plainly on their sleeves and some of these tunes don't even try to disguise them. "Defiance of Fate" is clearly trying to be "For Whom the Bell Tolls", "Power Unsurpassed" jacks the breakdown riff from Slayer's "Angel of Death" almost identically, while the rest of it sounds like it could be substituted with nearly any Megadeth album with vocals straight from Exodus.

Outside of a couple of decent moments that draw heavier influence from black metal and a pretty good one-two punch to round out the album with "Notre Dame (King of Fools)" and "Glorious End", I've heard a lot of this before. And it comes included with all of the troubles and issues many newer thrash bands have been dealing with for the better part of a decade. Testament have proven that you can have hooks and still make thick music. Maybe these guys should pay more attention to the right people.