Year of Desolation – Year of Desolation Review

The cauldrons of metal, how sweet the aroma. Many bands that are popping up these days are donning black aprons and spiked oven mitts, slaving in the kitchen of the practice space and searching for the right recipe that will make them stand out. A cup and a half of Doom, two teaspoons of Black, a pinch of Grindcore, and you get the idea.

Indiana’s Year of Desolation is no exception to this quest for the ultimate Metal Casserole. Listening to their new self-titled release from Prosthetic Records, and most metal fans are going to go through various fits of nostalgia, not unlike when one picks out an author’s or a movie director’s obvious references to other media.

One could also liken Year of Desolation to the theatrical trailers that advertise ‘thrills, chills, and spills’ and more. There’s thrash, death, and melody. There’s grind, hardcore and black. Hell, there’s even props to the 70’s (Black Sabbath and Journey), and satisfying the diverse modern metal spectrum in the likes of Slayer, In Flames, Pantera, and Carcass. Lions, tigers and bears – oh my!

Sounds great, right? There’s a downside. For all the ferocity that seems to be pouring over the edges here, it’s a bit too tight, too precise. They show you the ride through Hell through a shatterproof glass window instead of on the back of a demon. As a metal head, it’s in the rulebook that ‘letting your hair down’ is a perpetual thing.

But for coming out of Indiana, ‘it’s not half-bad’.

Website: Year of Desolation