DEW-SCENTED – Invocation

War and violence are a terrible business to face, yet, for these German guys it is something to write about. Dew-Scented is really, as they present themselves, relentless Thrash Metal all the way. The band that carved the meaning of the letter “I” on its albums, have been keeping the flow of albums going with a new addition to their ongoing album discography with Invocation. Throughout their history Dew-Scented maintained the same crossover between Thrash and Death Metal, standing in the front line of both modern and old school Thrash.

Taking on influences from mainly European Thrash, although Slayer, Obituary and Morbid Angel come to mind while hearing their albums, Dew-Scented will not leave their approach. For a number of bands, especially old as Dew-Scented, sometimes trying out new things might help, but not for this band. Their preservation rather helped them over the years as they have been making it classy and to the point, yet with brutality as their friend.

Invocation is not that different from its previous turnouts. It displays rather the same characteristics and manner as the others. The only thing left to assess is the quality of the written material, because for all who know Dew-Scented, the songs are the last chip on the table. Dew-Scented do not always hit the right spots to export a wonderful Thrash/Death Metal album, however this time Invocation turned out to their favor just as Impact and Ill-Natured did back in their time. Dew-Scented opened the new decade with their usual show of force that for Thrashers and old school Death Metal worshipers, it is a total moshpit party.

Other than not being the perfect album, which is a grade rather hard to get, they did a very good job. It was both done on the tunes presented and the overall production. As for their performance, there is always the issue regarding the band’s all time vocal man, Leif Jensen’s unchanging rhythmic grouchy voice (which reminds of Lux and Tardy) yet it seems that he tried to make a few changes with his voice, however still not to precision.

Overall, Invocation is one of Dew-Scented’s best works. It is great to know that the old school, even if molded with new school, is still running in this band’s veins.

Steinmetal’s Highlights marked on the tracklist

1. Downfall (Instrumental)
2. Arise From Decay
3. The Invocation
4. Have No Mercy On Us
5. Artificial Life
6. Condemnation
7. Totem (Instrumental)
8. Torn To Shreds
9. Revel In Contempt
10. A Critical Mass
11. Global Hysteria
12. Slaves Of Consent