Artillery: Penalty By Perception

The great Danes unleash their eighth burst of heavy fire

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No doubt about it: brothers Michael and Morten Stützer are two of the greatest thrash guitarists in the world.

Ever since 1985’s Fear Of Tomorrow, they’ve assailed us with astonishingly dense wall-to-wall riffage, delivered in their very own unique style. 1990’s By Inheritance saw them hit their peak in terms of commercial accessibility, before placing the overall emphasis back on heads-down mayhem for subsequent releases. Penalty By Perception may be the closest they’ve come to finding the perfect balance between chorus and chaos.

It’s still absolutely nails-hard, with the patented Stützer riff-storms well in evidence, but tracks like the opening In Defiance Of Conformity or Live By The Scythe can almost (whisper it) be crooned in the shower.

And the album’s second half eases off on the tempos, so that Deity Machine and Path Of The Atheist have a little more space in which to kick your face off. Provided you’re not turned off by the Euro-wailing style of frontman Michael Bastholm Dahl, this is an amazing piece of work that must be nailed to your collection at once.

Jason Arnopp
Freelance Writer

Jason Arnopp is a veteran metal scribbler, with a passion for thrash metal, horror movies, vinyl and VHS. He's also the author of scary novels like The Last Days Of Jack Sparks (2016) and Ghoster (2019). Runs two YouTube channels, including Possessed By Metal. Guess what that one's about, eh?