No Victory – “Time To Die” [Album Review]

By the time “The Fall Of Man”, the third song on No Victory’s first full-length release starts, one gets the impression that a staunch focus on religion and morality is first and foremost on the mind of vocalist Austin Polus. This doesn’t stop being the case, as song titles “Pray No More” and “God Has Failed Us” indicate. It’s exactly the kind of anti-theistic stance any good heavy music band worth its salt is applauded for taking.

Whether any of it is insightful or incendiary remains a different issue altogether, as the band seeks to showcase metallic riffs and straightforward viciousness instead of pandering to triangle-tattoo-sporting occultists or the millennial hxc set. It’s a pleasure to listen to another group take on hardcore and metal in a full-length release of this kind without leaning on the tropes of feedback, noise, or samples to seem innovative.

With that said; however, this is an album that trudges forward on a single time signature, quite content with plodding along at what feels like a singular pace throughout the release. It’s unfortunately what sets the whole release back, as an album of this length remaining in third gear the whole time feels like a wasted opportunity instead of a conscious decision to remain heavy. As a result, it feels like a rehashing of a single mid-tempo Slayer song, ad infinitum, ad nauseum.

The band’s highlight as a dedicated take on traditional metal and hardcore feels like a plodding, exhausted trope by the time the final track plays out. If this is your favoured tempo; however, this release may very well be one of your top ten favourite releases of the year, with vicious vocals and riffs that crush.

Time To Die Track Listing:

01. The Enemies Remain
02. Where We Go To Bleed
03. The Fall Of Man
04. Prey No More
05. Illusions Of Temptation
06. Time To Die
07. Refuse
08. Eternal Refrain of Humanity
09. God Has Failed Us

Run Time: 25:27
Release Date: August 12, 2016

Check out the song “Illusions of Temptation”