The Metal Mind reissue campaign continues for these German thrashers, and so far we've covered their first three releases. Fast forward to 2002, and Dew-Scented's fourth album Inwards. Here, the band solidify their thrash leanings, moving slowly away from the death metal sounds heard on their previous albums, towards a style that has a lot in common with Slayer and Kreator, yet still retains a slight amount of Death influence.
It's full speed ahead from the start, kicking off with the raging "Bitter Conflict", and never letting up, as Dew-Scented throw a huge amount of inventive riff-o-rama at the listener on such strong tracks as "Life Ending Path", "Blueprints of Hate", the awesome "Locked in Hate", and the crushing title track. In fact, I'll even go on to state the Dew-Scented deliver more intense & exciting deathly thrash in this one album than Slayer has in two decades. Just listen to the pummeling, frightening arrangements of "Degeneration", a monstrous thrash attack with terrifying riffs from Floryan Muller and Leffe Jensen's blood curdling vocals. It's all the proof you'll need. Other examples of just how far this band have come up to this point include the complex "Terminal Mindstrip", and the blinding "Reprisal", a real workout for the rhythm team of bassist Patrick Heims & drummer Uwe Werning. As an added bonus, check out their cover of Slayer's "War Ensemble"...killer.
Dew-Scented are one of those bands that simply don't get the credit they deserve. Easily as powerful and brutal as Germany's more popular acts such as Kreator, Vader, and Destruction, Dew-Scented hopefully will begin to get more exposure thanks to these Metal Mind reissues.
Track Listing
1. Bitter conflict 3:41
2. Unconditional 3:50
3. Life ending path 3:39
4. Inwards 3:02
5. Blueprints of hate 3:16
6. Locked in motion 4:20
7. Degeneration 3:16
8. Terminal mindstrip 5:08
9. Feeling not 3:07
10. Reprisal 4:31