In the almost immortal words of Shang Tsung: “and now for a taste of things to come,” Dethonator supplant two tracks from their eponymous forthcoming album onto the airwaves of the power fantastic through this double A-side single. Tracks 2 and 3 for all you conspiratorial numerologists out there. Titled Harbinger and I Am Thunder God respectively.
First let’s go back a bit. The band originally started in 2002 under the name Kaleb before rebranding as the bon mot Dethonator. Killer.
Dethonator the album was originally released in 2010 but has been updated and up scaled to accommodate for their larger than life sound in 2016. Bon-bons.
I Am Thunder God is irrefutable proof that shredding is still the de facto way to rock as guitarists Tris and H. (ov not-Steps) harmonize and welly from hook to hook and fret to fret like traversing monkey bars, and just like monkey bars, swinging the tide of their stormy procession unto the heavens to cascade down in a rush of synergy coming over the funky drums and the bass grunt Adz. Hammering the heavy realm with grace and diligently packing a barrel with explosive intent. Je Suis Raiden (the shorthand title) is a satisfying step back, back again and forward.
First track, second from the album, Harbinger opens the single with maudlin fervor or more appropriately fetid cheese. It’s grandeur reminiscent of an epic Greek tragedy, like braking two new plates at the Parthenon. A defeatist anthem it foreshadows the coming thunder with an abstract switch between generic moods but ultimately retains its uncontrolable tears for the next challenger in a murderously sweet set up for the successive proclamation, I Am Thunder God.
As part of a New NWOBHM Dethonator don’t exemplify their full range on this single. It’s a solid couple of tracks but their vapid hooks and hyper exposition holds little more than lite-fantastic metal, with them trying to find a midway between punting pop-culture sonnets and good company couture.
7/10
