The Reckoning - Counterblast

It’s a very bad sign when only two tracks of an album compiled of ten songs manage to even vaguely interest you. It’s even worse when the better of the two is a cover, leaving you with little reason to re-listen.

Unfortunately Belgian trio The Reckoning haven’t exactly done anything new for their fourth album, ‘Counterblast’ and have created a brutal but extremely boring set of songs.

The production isn’t really a problem, although it could be better. The instruments can be heard clearly - in a way, a bit too clearly.

Everything on here sounds like it’s been done before...and it has been done, albeit to a higher and much more interesting standard. Vader and Zyklon references can be heard at various points but it isn’t until track four, ‘Heap of Wretchedness’ when things start to pick up and they produce something fairly decent. I don’t like saying things like this, but it really is obvious just how bland and monotonous The Reckoning are when their cover of Terrorizer’s ‘Dead Shall Rise’ begins, annihilating everything else on the album. This is the only track I have happily re-listened to, and even nodded with enthusiasm...but here’s the thing - I’m not even a Terrorizer fan! Cover songs can be a risky business, especially when you put them right at the end of your album. It can work wonderfully, but it can also go terribly wrong and unveil your band’s lack of creativity.