Of all the bands that have been slowly coming around over the years that have taken to the World Wars as constant sources of inspiration whether it be for entire albums or even just a song, one band among all others have been not only consistent by improving wildly with each release: 1914. This act has been one to know since their debut six years ago with everything they’ve done being something to investigate with their staggering power only getting deadlier it felt with each passing year, and the news of a new effort from them this year primed me for true devastation the likes of which only the long-abandoned trenches remember. Even after six years and more than enough material to prove their worth, it’s on their third full-length that 1914 still shows they have loads of ammunition and power to throw around with the quality to match.

It would be callous of me to say that I felt like I knew what I was in for with this new record without even hearing anything of it at the time of its announcement since that would imply that 1914 only knows one trick and does it over and over to a disappointing degree. Rather, 1914 has truly cultivated their sound to a similar road with many branches paths that remain close to the point that their works are consistent in their sound and approach but they’re still deliciously dynamic as the band uses everything from the historical facts, location of the tragedies at hand, and their undeniable sense of musicianship to not only tie everything together beautifully but to maximum impact with “Where Fear and Weapons Meet” arguably the band’s best work to date that illustrates that reality. The very whole of this record is compelling right from the very concept itself as the talent and power behind 1914 preceding the name with good reason, but it’s the exceeding sense of dread that permeates virtually every moment of the nine tracks sandwiched between the now-expected “War In”-“War Out” combo being the very definition of harrowing as you really feel like you’re in the trenches, witnessing the fall of corpse entrapped in flaming metal, or upon the verdant French fields that are soon to be littered with viscera and dotted by explosions. It creates a genuine emotional response should you really surrender yourself to the unforgiving assault that “Where Fear and Weapons Meet” as it not only pummels the body but weakens the very soul such that it’ll be by the end of the first wave that its violence will linger with you and leave your ears ringing, but there is no time for the second wave has already begun and the bodies continue to fall before you. Such has been the way of war, and it couldn’t have a better representation in modern metal than 1914 and all that the act delivers.

This is a truly crushing performance the likes of which has earned this band accolades from all over, myself included, but it’s clear to me with everything that we see within the confines of this vicious work that attack from all sides without a shred of mercy to be had even well after the final shell has been spent. Many may look to larger, more marketable bands to show us plenty of what the horrors of The Great War brought to this Earth but it is 1914 single-handedly that can provide us a performance such that “Where Fear and Weapons Meet” has us staring right into, and it’s sure to be not too long when we’re summoned back to man the guns yet again as the screams of the reaped are but secondary to the advance.

LISTEN to “Where Fear and Weapons Meet” via multiple sources here.

LIKE 1914 on Facebook here.