With some help by producer Gary Holt (Exodus), California based Warbringer once again inject their music with a large dose of Kreator style thrash for the follow up to “War Without End”.    

When listening to John Kevill’s tone and delivery, and the arrangements/riffs to the first three tracks ‘Jackal’, ‘Living in a Whirlwind’, and ‘Severed Reality’, you can easily draw comparisons to Mille and co. and Warbringer borrow from the German thrash legends well.  ‘Prey for Death’ slows down the tempo which is good focusing on catchy guitars while looking at the album as a whole, instrumental ‘Nightmare Anatomy’ minimally adds in dynamics. Several parts of ‘Scorched Earth’ has older Megadeth (think “Rust in Peace” and ‘Take No Prisoners’) in the riff/leads.  ‘Abandoned By Time’ grabs hold of the listener with a solid Overkilleque “Horrorscope” thrash backbone.  

What does not work for me with Warbringer are the random gruff hardcore vocals during “Shadow From A Tomb’. They are completely out of the blue and stick out like a sore thumb.  Not a good idea, fellas. 

Warbringer’s second album shows growth in the tempo and riffing changes, a better focus on melody and groove.  Let’s see what they do next.