Doomsday – Never Known Peace Review

Sharing current and former members with San Jose’s Ripped To Shreds, Oakland’s Doomsday is comparable to that band, not so much musically (or really, almost not at all musically, if you split metallic hairs like we do), but mostly because both are young bands operating within the parameters of old styles and yet bringing a fresh energy and enough of their own identity that they can sidestep too many old-timer foul-cries of “been there, heard that.” Whereas the former of those two lives in the world of death metal, Doomsday steps further backwards from that into the space between thrash and hardcore, the days of crossover outfits like Leeway and (second album) Cro-Mags, those that bridged the gap between Slayer and… well, (first album) Cro-Mags. 

What’s most noticeable about Never Known Peace, from the opening salvo of “Death Is Here” and “The Outlaw,” is that it’s full of that energy, the swaggering crossover crush that makes this particular subgenre so addictive and enjoyable. Never Known moves with a nearly palpable and almost kinetic drive that’s equally powerful in both its spirited thrashing and swinging beatdowns, and there’s plenty of both, of course. There are also heaps of shoutalong gang vocals – “Brand! New! Hate! Death is now here!” or “Ho! Ly! Just! Ice!” – and all of it custom-made for maximum moshpit mobility. Carlos Velasquez spits his words with a venomous bark, clearly intelligible and hardcore-leaning in its punch and clarity, while the tandem of Ryan Calaveras and Big Rob DeLorenzi throw out chunky riffs and fluid leads seeming ease. Still, at the end of all of it, the gold star goes to the rhythm section (Eddie Vigil on drums and Glendon Diaz on bass) for not only holding all this together, but pushing it forward with that vicious vibrancy.

And of course, none of that matters much if the songs don’t hold up, but Never Known Peace wins in that category, as well. Those gang vocal hooks are damned near irresistible, and they’re scattered generously throughout these ten tracks, but they aren’t the only ones present, both vocal or musical. “Pain Dweller” has some seriously catchy chugging riffage and lightly dissonant chords to go along with a crushing song-ending breakdown, while the title track swings like a championship fighter. The brief instrumental “Extinction’s Hymn” that separates the two is the icing on the cake, a keyboard-tinged, temple-bell-ringing bit of epic bashing that pulls those three tracks together into the album’s literal and musical centerpiece. Every track hits, and each hits hard, a relatively lean and exceedingly mean half-hour bashing with no extraneous bullshit.

After lying low for decades, crossover thrash has been well represented in the last fifteen years or so, but for every Power Trip or classic Municipal Waste that captures the spark and the spirit, there are a half-dozen or more one-joke pizza thrash wannabes fallen by the wayside. Doomsday takes a running leap over all those dead thrashers, both by being deadly serious (or at least, appearing to be) and most importantly, by throwing down some deadly serious results. If crossover gets your blood pumping (and when done properly, it should), then here’s a grand example of the power of the style. It comes down to spark, kids – fire it up, feel the flames, and find your way to doomsday.