Released by: Metalville Records

Release date: 27 April 2018

Genre: Thrash Metal

Links: Facebook , perzonalwar.de

Line-up:

Matthias “Matti” Zimmer – Vocals, Rhythm Guitar

Andreas Ballnus – Lead Guitar

Björn Kluth – Bass Guitar, Acoustic Guitar

Martin Buchwalter – Drums

Track Listing:

1. Time Of Lies
2. Born
3. Bleeding
4. Speed Of Time
5. Mother Darkness
6. Hornet
7. My Secret
8. Devil In My Neck
9. The Inside
10. This Dead Meaning
11. Incarnation
12. Hope Dies Last (Acoustic)
13. The Same Blood (Acoustic)
14. Never Look Back (Acoustic)
15. Open My World
16. Demonstration Of Power
17. Putrefaction Of The Mind
18. Nothing Remains At All
19. For The Last Time
20. My Conspiracy
21. Divergent
22. Burning Symbols
23. The Last Sunset
24. Evolution
25. Regression Of The Art
26. The Unbeliever
27. Metalizer
28. When Time Turns Red
29. 5 More Days

Perzonal War has been around for twenty years now. And I admit that until watching their live DVD of Neckdevils I had never heard of them. Well fool me more, as at first I was convinced I was listening to some new Metallica tracks. But it’s definitely a completely different band! Vocalist Metti Zimmer has a true twang in James Hetfield’s style, and his voice compliments Perzonal War’s thrash style very nicely (and much like Metallica, they’re not afraid to take a song over 5 minutes long!).

The band took to the stage at the cosy Kubana Siegburg venue in Eastern Germany near their hometown of Troisdorf to mark the anniversary, playing a hearty selection of their music from the last two decades. Kicking off the set with the energetic Time of Lies, the band wastes no time and gets on with throwing themselves headfirst into a wonderfully heavy riff which sets the tone for the rest of their performance. Despite hailing from Germany, their lyrics are entirely English. For which I’m grateful for (and certainly adds to their likeness to a certain aforementioned American thrash metal band). However, between their songs, they talk to the crowd in their native language, as would be expected. Through my hazy memories of GCSE German, they explain that this is their 20th-anniversary show. Asking the crowd if they’re having fun and thanking them for sticking with the band during the years. Not only are they a talented bunch, they’re also super nice guys! But I digress. Moving through some more tracks thoroughly fitting of their signature style (including Hornet with a solo that really does have a sting to it), Perzonal War arrives at Devil In My Neck. The track which has given this live album/DVD combo its title. This is a tune that I’d class as a proper boppy number, as far as thrash goes, at least, and yet somehow the vast majority of the crowd simply bob their heads along as if it was elevator music! (This is with the one exception of a girl in the front row heartily windmilling, the rest of the crowd could learn from her!) Perhaps crowds in mainland Europe treat live shows differently to what I’m used to in the UK, but I would argue that the band deserves a better reception than that.

At this point, I feel we should give a bit of recognition to drummer Martin Buchwalter for keeping up his relentless energy throughout the set so far. Thankfully the band give him a bit of a break as Matti is joined on stage by bassist Björn Kluth on guitar as they launch into three acoustic numbers that unfortunately didn’t make it onto the accompanying album. Many bands avoid playing stripped back songs live as it can really expose any slips and trips that a vocalist might make, but Matti Zimmer sails through these without a hitch, even managing to get the crowd involved a little with backing vocals in the last of these tracks, Never Look Back. Returning to the stage with a guest drummer and bassist, Perzonal War keeps things relatively chilled with Open My World before kicking things back up a notch with the aptly named Demonstration of Power.

The band treks through the last third of their set with somehow still the same energy that they started with, which is quite an achievement given that it’s just shy of thirty songs long! Eventually, their enthusiasm seeps into the crowd with people finally starting to move in the last few songs and a good amount of horns thrown up for closing track 5 More Days. Perzonal War seems like a band that would be excellent to go and watch live, the sound quality is that which you would expect from a recorded album, with the small drawback of the lack of crowd enthusiasm. Here’s to another twenty years of Perzonal War, hopefully, future crowds agree!

Written by: Vikki Luff

Ratings: 7/10