I always liked DEW-SCENTED a lot and writing this review brings back some memories of the shows, I have seen from them, especially the tour in 1996 with EDGE OF SANITY comes into my mind, so needless to say that DEW-SCENTED is a constant in the German Metal scene and do not need to hide behind the figureheads KREATOR or SODOM. The difficult situations the band went through are also well-known. The Dutch boys who joined Leif after the band’s crisis brought really fresh breath into their activities and they started to tour as hell and shared stages with bands like SIX FEET UNDER, TESTAMENT, DEATH ANGEL and SACRED REICH. “Icarus” was the first positive sign of this fine collaboration but after all these tours and the collected influences combined with that, the band really has found their basis now in form of their tenth album “Intermination”. Surely their main sound has not changed at a first view but listening to the material more detailed shows the big steps, the band has made in the last four years. DEW-SCENTED delivers all trademarks, a fan of modern Thrash Metal is longing for. Precise and powerful riffing, powerful and varying drumming and the aggressive vocals of Leif , which sound again very powerful on this album. Crossing the border between Death and Thrash Metal, the opening track ‘On A Collision Course’ is a straight into the face Death / Thrash wrecking ball and shows all the mentioned trademarks the band is known for but in an improved and tightened shape. The main songwriting has stayed but the band has incorporated more killer-riffs and paired them with very fine melodies. ‘Scars Of Creation’ and ‘Affect Gravity’ continue the brutal and fast way until the band unleashes the beast in form of ‘Means To An End’ with a killer melodic last part. This track might be one of the best or even their best written track so far, really outstanding! The weaker ‘Living Lies’ gets revalued by the follower ‘Atavistic’ which is another killer again. All in all a very tight and varying album which shows the band in their best line-up and shape since their founding. The really perfect and technical drumming of Koen Herfst must be mentioned separately. He proves here that he is one of the best drummers in Europe. But also the guitar work of Marvin and Rory has grown a lot over the last years and makes this tenth album something really special for their fans and a good start for the next years, as the band will have their 25th anniversary in 2017. Of course they have also continued to record some cover tunes as well as bonus. This time in form of ‘Survival Reaction’ from the mighty SOLSTICE and a really well-done cover of ‘Radiation Sickness’ from REPULSION with really cool vocals from Leif. Those who still have not checked the album, get yourself a copy and those who need some background information about the band can check the following regular updated sources: www.dew-scented.de, www.facebook.com/dewscented, www.metalblade.com