Review SIEGE OF POWER ‘This is Tomorrow’

Siege Of Power emerged from a project called First Class Elite. More than a few songs on a split album did not come out of this project and yet it laid the foundation for a band that presented a debut album in 2018.

Siege Of Power, these are well-known names from the death metal sphere. Chris Reifert, Paul Baayens, Theo vam Eekelen and Bob Bagchus, they all have a long history when it comes to this extreme way of playing heavy metal. With combined forces they have revived the spirit of First Class Elite and even if it’s a new band name, it’s still the elemental force of oldschool death metal that bursts forth on the songs of the sophomore album ‘This is Tomorrow’.

The strength of the album takes the band from spontaneity. No one here has committed to the regular album, tour, album,… rhythm. Rather, it is the joy of the harsh sounds that brings the four together again and again.

One of the driving factors of Siege Of Power is guitarist Paul Baayens, who always comes up with new riffs and creative ideas. When the four guys realized some time after the release of the debut album that they wanted to make another record and ideas for the songs existed, it was certain that they wanted to be more professional this time.

Siege Of Power didn’t change anything fundamental in their sound and yet the songs sound more multilayered without losing any of their ruthless punch. The versatility is also reflected in the vocals of Chris Reifert, who on the one hand comes up with hellish growls and at the same time sounds more nuanced. In addition, the thrash metal parts come a bit more to the fore, which gives the album more variety overall.

Already the brutal opening called ‘Force Fed Fear’ makes clear that there is a musical tsunami in motion. Peppered with a thrashing break, the Dutch/American outfit pounds its way through this three-minute opener, and anyone who thinks that ‘Sinister Christians’ will give them a moment to catch their breath is completely wrong. Even if the track is in fact a bit slower, it unfolds all its massiveness already at the first listen.

With ‘Scavengers’ the band follows up and shows that also slower and groovy songs fit nicely into the repertoire while ‘Ghosts of Humanity’ combine riff power, the evil vocals of Reifert and a sinister acoustic guitar in the beginning. It all evolves to an evil metal mammoth that once again shows the width of sounds on this album, especially when the song explodes in the last third and morphs to a furious metal smasher with Slayer-esque leads.

Also ‘Deeper Wounds’ has to be mentioned. With six minutes of playing time it is the longest track on the album and reflects the musical versatility, which Siege Of Power make use of. Relentlessly the basic motif and riff grinds itself into the mind of the listener and will not let you escape. Bands like Asphxy and Bolt Thrower came to my mind while listening to this monster track. In addition, things get almost melodic in the middle section before a bloodcurdling scream from Chris Reifert immediately ends the emerging harmony. If you want to get familiar with the sound of Siege Of Power in general, you can discover all facets of the band with ‘Deeper Wounds’.

It was a good decision of the foursome to record another album with ‘This is Tomorrow’, because it delivers exactly what fans of the wild riffs would like to hear. You get the feeling that these four guys made the album mainly for themselves, which gives ‘This is Tomorrow’ a certain authenticity. Death metal can’t sound more natural and spontaneous