Review TOTAL ANNIHILATION “Mountains of Madness”

“Mountains of Madness” is the fourth album from Total Annihilation. The Swiss death metal band kicks off the year with a new sonic blast featuring eleven chapters. Total Annihilation started in 2006, and in their 20th year of existence and six years after revealing “…on Chains of Doom”, the five-piece launch a roaring metal blast.

Since they’re a Swiss band, you might think these mountains, mentioned in thr title are in the Alps, and that there are some ski resorts that fit that description. But actually, in this case, the title refers back to H.P. Lovecraft and his horror novella ‘At the Mountains of Madness’. Total Annihilation combines this source of inspiration with the current state of society and global issues.

What started out as a group of people just wanting to have a good time back in 2006 has gradually evolved into a well-known underground act that delivers with “Mountains of Madness”, a thunderous death metal record.

The album’s got a bunch of different songs, including a 9-second noise assault called “Illusion”. The smashing “Lost Forever” is 30 seconds longer, while songs like “Chokehold” reflect a massively grooving death metal machine. The latter is a song with a lot of intensity that hits you hard.

The title track starts off more chilled, and this shows a different side to the band’s musical identity. Kept at a steady pace, the song is like a dense wall of sound. Meat cleaver riffs are always the focus of Total Annihilations’ music, but the band isn’t afraid to experiment with some twists. “Invisible Conflagration” starts with the sound of a piano and then turns into a full-on doom beast before the band changes gears. “Invisible Conflagration” speeds up and includes a blistering solo part before slowing down again with a hellish grin.

“Mountains of Madness” is a fierce and savage death metal album that hits the spot with its intensity and variety. The album is intense from beginning to end, but the Swiss death metal band also adds some interesting nuances, which makes “Mountains of Madness” a pretty compelling listen.