Gareth takes a listen to the latest release by German Thrashers War Agenda,

War Agenda – Propaganda Propaganda is the second album by German thrashers ‘War Agenda’, and those familiar with their debut ‘Night of Disaster’, might well be in for a few surprises, the band have made a few major changes this time around, not least a new vocalist and a new guitarist, not to mention, a few stylistic changes as well. Whereas the debut was a massive homage to the classic bay area sound, ‘Propaganda’ has a more of a Teutonic edge to it, whilst still retaining that bay area crunch. 

Let’s get the elephant in the room out of the way first, because within 10 seconds of the title-track starting, new singer Moustafa Troll’s vocals will probably be a make or break for a lot of people. His voice is definitely unusual, and a strong part of the band standing out from others in the genre. I’m struggling to describe his singing, it’s got a touch of Tom Angelripper, but like he’s coming down from breathing in a helium balloon. It might take you a while to appreciate them, but I urge you to persevere, because they certainly add a unique flavour to this band.

Musically, the band aren’t breaking any real new ground, the music is very much based on the classic 80’s bay area crunch, with some typical German inspired riffing. The guys are all competent musicians and the songs are tight and chock full of great riffs and solos. To mix things up a bit the band do include the odd acoustic intro, and some more off the wall arrangements here and there as well as some bold vocal melodies. On the whole though, apart from the vocals they’re a fairly safe bet, if you enjoy well written and well performed thrash, with a modern, yet classically inspired production. This is definitely worth checking out.

War Agenda is out now on Great Dane Records