Metal is given to hyperbole. It may be entirely fitting in as much as the genre is often about pushing the boundaries of what sounds can legitimately be called music, but it also has the effect of desensitizing fans to some otherwise really useful adjectives. So, you’re going to need to wipe your brain clean for the next few minutes and pretend you’ve never seen a record label blurb because, get this, Orchestrated Kill Maneuver is FACE MELTING! BONE CRUSHING! And … you better believe it, FUCKING BRUTAL!

This brain flaying-ness is primarily due to the guitar sound on the record. It is the sound of agony; the sound of a thousand pathetic, hopeless imps self-flagellating with bundles of half-inch twisted steel cables. They shriek as flesh gives way to bone. The sound is so grating and loose you can hardly make sense of it. It sends the mind into a confused spasm in an attempt to focus the ears as it would the eyes. The band themselves consider this a “Swedish” guitar tone, which, I suppose, is intended to reference the famous Entombed/Dismember/Unleashed/Boss HM2 buzzsaw sound, but you know, if you play Left Hand Path and then play this immediately after, you’re going to hear something much more like inspiration than influence; it’s the “Swedish” sound taken to a new extreme. It’s quite an accomplishment, actually. This guitar madness is complemented by the subservience of the drums and vocals. It is as if the other elements in the band have simply shrunken back into the shadows after realizing that there is no competing with the guitar.

Death/Thrash is not a a wholly innaccurate moniker for the structure of the songs on Orchestrated Kill Maneuver, but there’s more to it than that. For starters, there’s more death than thrash to the mix. The guitar solos are firmly in the death metal camp with a squealing, careening sound to them. The vocals are not exactly growled but they are harsh as hell and would probably not work on a thrash record. The overall fast musical pace and rapid chord changes are more akin to thrash, but maybe closer still to punk. The record actually has a quite a bit of grind sensibility to it. Grind/thrash, anyone?

Since there isn’t a chance in hell of understanding enough of the lyrics to go as far as saying this is a concept album, let’s settle for a themed album, shall we? Samples are scattered throughout the album – machine guns popping, sirens wailing, Eastern European radio announcements, troops marching. Then we have the song titles: And Three Survived ( The Sinking of the HMS Hood), Firestorm in Dresden, Stuka JU-87 (Sturzkampfflugzeug), Breach of the Seigfried Line, etc., all of which reference World War II. There hasn’t been a war like that since, so there aren’t many folks alive who can tell you what full-scale combined arms combat sounds like, but Orchestrated Kill Maneuver would seem to be a damn good try at artistic representation if not a faithful reproduction.

Invasion were formed in 1989 but much of that time have been “locked in a furious battle with lineup changes and limited rehearsal spots.” Interviews would seem to indicate that involvement with other musical projects was a factor as well. The band’s last release, Berserk Artillery Barrage, was done in 2002. The very existence of records like Orchestrated Kill Maneuver give one hope, though, and restore faith. There most definitely are still guys around who make it their mission to up the ante in musical brutality for its own sake. Ah well, it’s called the underground for a reason, I guess. Personally, I wouldn’t have it any other way.