Trench Warfare – Achtung! Destroy the Weak
Release Date: 28th August 2026
Label: Conjuring Records
Genre: War Metal
FFO: Blasphemy, Conqueror, Revenge, Proclamation, Obituary.
Review By: Aeons Burning
Being a lover of war metal, I was pretty stoked to see Trench Warfare were still around after their solid debut Hatred Prayer from back in 2019 before everything shut down. I was a bit surprised to see something new from Trench Warfare in the promo bin given I had seen nothing about this on the internet, but I do like surprises, most of the time. Unfortunately, in the seven years between Hatred Prayer and Achtung! Destroy the Weak I’m not sure what happened to Trench Warfare, but they’ve managed to release one of the most forgettable war metal albums I’ve heard in recent memory, and it’s pretty disappointing.
I don’t like bashing albums, and I’ll refrain from doing that here, but Trench Warfare have put out the most bare bones war metal album I’ve listened to from this year. Nothing about Achtung! Destroy the Weak is necessarily bad, but everything lacks that special sauce which makes stuff like Abhorrency, Osgraef, and Teitanblood so fantastic. If you’ve heard one album by an act such as Black Witchery or Archgoat, you’ve heard this album before. The solos, while typical fret board and whammy abuse seen in either thrash or other war metal bands, are good, and bring some life into this. On the other hand, the vocalist is doing his best John Tardy (Obituary) impression, which makes Achtung! Destroy the Weak feel like an album that doesn’t know what it’s trying to be. On paper it’s war metal but in practice it sounds more like an odd death metal hybrid album instead.
I normally try to have at least a positive about something I review, but this Trench Warfare album is just so bland. It’s hard to get through the album, and once you’re done it’s hard to remember anything about it, because everything blends together to create a formless mush. It’s a real shame that these guys made this record for their follow-up when Hatred Prayer was a solid record, because I thought they had some real potential. Hopefully this is just a small misstep on the way to a much better third record, but if this is how they intend to sound moving forward, I want no part of Trench Warfare’s future.
(2 / 5)
