Review by UnhinderedbyTalent for Memoriam - To the End (2021)

I loved Requiem for Mankind - the 5 star review on the site is proof of this.  It had groove, intensity and a gnarly undertone that suggested real guts as well as a great sound.  Inevitably the Bolt Thrower comparisons grew the more I listened to it and I am almost at the point of wondering if as time goes by, whether Memoriam or slowly just morphing back into that great old band inevitably.

Opener, Onwards to Battle could open any Bolt Thrower album in all honesty and if I didn't know any better you could pass this off as a lost or even new Bolt Thrower tune.  Now this isn't a criticism by any means.  I love the fact that this rich heritage from one of my favourite UK death metal bands runs through the veins of a band that came into existence after the appropriate dissolution of the aforementioned legends.  I simply wanted to highlight that the memory of this great band continues to live on and is being done great justice to by Willetts and co.

As To the End continues this theme continues (inevitably), however there's something missing this time around across the record and I have been struggling to put my finger on it as I have given the record a few spins.  I can't help but feel that momentum that Memoriam built on their previous release doesn't continue all that far into To the End.  This doesn't make their 2021 release terrible as such but I feel the band lacks much in the way of presence and identity this time around.  Requiem for Mankind was full of groove and passion and its high points stood out from the legacy Bolt Thrower sound by virtue of this sense of confidence in who the band were and how they could progress out of those historical shadows.  This time around I don't feel this footprint is stamped quite as well.  The first four tracks make a good go of it but the legs don't carry the whole nine tracks over the finish line I am afraid and there's a noticeable dip from the middle of the album onwards.

The major change in the line-up this time around is behind the drums, with Spikey T. Smith (of Sacrilege fame) taking over the stool from Andy Whale and this is one of the standout problem areas for me.  The drums sound quite basic and lacking in real presence for the most part, with their only notable contribution being how rock like they sound as opposed to death metal.  They just don't feel like drums recorded for a death metal album.  But it isn't Smith's fault that I don't enjoy the whole of the album.  The song writing lacks completion on more than one occasion, most notably on Each Step (One Closer to the Grave) which sounds really promising at the start but then proceeds to meander instead of develop into the charging and steadfast assault it promised.

I had high hopes for this album (especially since I missed any news that the band had even been in the studio) but I am left disappointed overall and almost wish that they'd just done an EP instead.