The international Death Metal war machine Death Kommander digs even deeper into the muddy trenches Bolt Thrower dug out between ’86 and 2016. ‘Never To Grow Old’ doesn’t just tip the helmet to the Coventry legends, it plants its boots in the same blood-soaked soil and keeps marching forward with grim determination.
Opener ‘Bayonet Drill’ kicks things off with filthy, lurching riffs and a barrage of double kicks that sound like tank tracks grinding over bone. It sets the tone right away; grim, heavy, no frills. But after a minute or two, the track starts to drag a bit. It builds tension well, but never quite explodes. A solid opener, but not the standout it wants to be.
The cover art, though, …holy hell. A soldier cowering in a trench, a tank about to roll straight over him. It’s bleak, brutal, and says everything you need to know about this record: war isn’t glory, it’s doom. That image adds serious weight to the music. You feel the pressure, the inevitability. It’s like staring down the barrel of your own demise.
Luckily, that first track is just the warm-up. From there on out, Death Kommander comes fully armed. ‘Yellow Cross’ brings in some swinging, neck-snapping grooves that’ll rattle your spine. ‘Memories’ hits different, the riffs are massive, but there’s a haunting, almost mournful vibe in the solos. That touch of melody gives it depth without softening the blow.
What really sets this band apart is their pacing. They know when to pull back, when to grind, and when to go full steam. It’s never a wall of noise for the sake of it, there’s structure, flow, and a raw emotional undercurrent beneath all the mud and blood.
‘Never To Grow Old’ isn’t here to reinvent the wheel, it’s here to crush skulls with it. This is Death Metal the way it’s meant to be: dirty, heavy, and straight from the trenches.
