DIABOLOS
DUST - The Reaper Returns (2018)
Massacre Records
The Reaper Returns is the third full-length release
from Diabolos Dust. It came out in 2018 on the German label Massacre Records,
and the band is currently on hold, which makes it something of a late-career
statement. I bought it mainly because the price was very low, and I went in
with modest expectations.
My only previous contact with the band was their
debut, Ruins of Mankind. It was released independently in 2010 and picked up by
Massacre Records the following year. That album left little impression on me,
as it was a rather typical heavy metal record with some thrash elements. With
that in mind, I approached the new album cautiously, and I was glad to be
proven wrong.
The core formula remains the same: traditional heavy
metal with thrash influences. Stylistically, the band sits somewhere between
Iced Earth and Germany’s Headhunter. What differs this time is the added
variety. Some songs bring in blackish growls, and a few include melodic black
and melodic death metal passages. These touches add colour and contrast without
changing the band’s identity. Heavy metal with a thrash edge is still what
drives the album.
Diabolos Dust are not doing anything new or innovative
here, and they don’t pretend to be. In my experience, originality matters less
than whether the music lands with the listener. On this album, it does. Songs
like “Roll Your Dice,” “Sanity,” “Fall of the Gods,” and “Hold On the Flame”
show a band that has found its voice and writes with conviction.
Verdict: Not a genre-redefining record, but a
confident, well-executed and enjoyable one. It is a clear step up from the
debut and an easy recommendation for fans of traditional heavy metal with a
thrash bite. That the band is now inactive makes this a worthwhile album to
revisit.
Nick Parastatidis
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