Onslaught – Live Damnation

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Recorded live at the Damnation Festival in 2008 this concise 45-minute set is split between four of Onslaught’s most classic tracks, and four from last album Killing Peace and was one of only three shows they played in the UK all year. The recording quality is excellent, everything is crystal clear and balanced and plenty of newer songs makes it more interesting than a simple greatest hits set. However, this release does come a little too soon after the longer live DVD Live Polish Assault, recorded at the 2007 Metal Mania festival, the special edition of which comes with a live CD of the show. While this disc does include a couple of different songs (Planting Seeds of Hate and Destroyer of Worlds, both from Killing Peace) the rest are on the 2007 recording, with another six not played here. This is a flawless recording, and at a low price will be an excellent addition to the Onslaught discography (which I think most will agree is too small), but it might have been a better idea to record and release a longer, headlining set so as to include more songs, maybe some different ones to those already available on the DVD/CD set, and provide better value to the fans. Sometimes though it is nice to have a shorter, but consistently outstanding burst of your favourite band, and this won’t disappoint on that score.

Written by Andy Lye
More: Live Albums, Quick.Play Reviews, Thrash Metal, Onslaught