‘The oligarch devours, Tear the flesh from their bones, A compost for a new world to grow, Bloated ugly corpses, A stench most foul’ (Stench)

Mass forced deportations, soldiers patrolling the streets, democratic and scientific institutions being systematically degraded, and the contagion of authoritarian rule slowly seeping into a nation’s lifeblood.  The rot is, indeed, thickening as autocracy becomes the new reality.  Minneapolis crust punks War//Plague have been challenging this ever-accelerating descent for over fifteen years and make a thoroughly timely return with this, their fifth full-length.

Muscular, metallic riffage and a galloping, cymbal awash rhythm section form the band’s backbone.  Swells of sombre melody and brightly unfurling solos flare through the wider battery, which leans into a discernibly more amplified stenchcore influence than on previous releases.  A bleakly allusive tableau of decay, despair, and death is evoked by the forcefully guttural, semi-shouted vocals as they contemplate a society seemingly locked into a cycle of greed and self-deception that will see it consume itself.  The surging Sacrifice and doom-mired Burn graphically capture the insidious atmosphere of desolate foreboding as it builds with a merciless intensity.