In 1990, this Dutch Danish band released a true blue classic of the thrash genre in By Inheritance. Artillery however failed to build on the momentum of the album and the band split up soon after. They did reform to put out the album B.A.C.K. in 1999 but broke up once again soon after. A second reformation was announced in 2007 with a spate of re-releases and box sets and finally this year sees the band release its fifth and latest album. When Death Comes is another classy slice of heavy metal by a band that has always been a bit better than the rest. The thrash has taken a bit of a backseat and the band is operating in a speed/ traditional metal area with the emphasis on catchy vocal lines and memorable guitar work. It is business as usual through most of the album with very little that is new for the band.

The first four songs starting with When Death Comes, Upon My Cross I Crawl, 10,000 Devils and Rise Above it All take the album off to a terrific start and are reminiscent of the classic work this band put out with their first three albums. 10,000 Devils especially sounds like something that could have easily been on By Inheritance. Sandbox Philosophy has a slight hard rock feel to it and sort of breaks up the momentum a little while Delusions of Grandeur is the big metal ballad of the album and again somehow hampers the flow. The band doesn’t really live up to the promise of those first four songs though and the albums tapers off a little before Uniform and The End close things in a reasonably effective manner.

Overall I’d say this is another good album from the band. Not as manic as their best stuff and doesn’t really hold a candle to the first three albums but overall pretty good. Hopefully they’ll stick around long enough to add a few more entries to their discography this time around.

Label: Metal Mind

Year of release: 2009