I’ve known Detonation for quite some time now. It’s about four years ago when I first witnessed them in a live environment. After the gig I immediately bought the Crushed Skull compilation (released by Sckullcrusher Records) which featured two of their songs. The tracks they delivered on this disc blew me away, knowing that the band had only been together for merely half a year. Back then they already showed their capabilities and I got the feeling we were going to hear a lot more of them. A demo and a promo followed and behold: the debut full length has finally arrived!

Upon first listening it became immediately clear that we’re dealing with very capable musicians. Every song is an example of fine song writing and has that familiar Detonation-vibe. By that I mean that when you hear three seconds of a song you can instantly tell it is Detonation. Mind you, I’m not saying every track sounds alike, it’s just highly recognizable.

It is obvious that Detonation is inspired by the Gothenburg style Death metal, which was highly popular a few years ago. Most important were bands like At The Gates, Dark Tranquillity, In Flames and, my favourite, Unanimated.

In this case ‘inspired by’ does not mean a shameless rip-off of the aforementioned bands, but a firm basis, which Detonation uses as a starting point for their own ideas. The sound on An Epic Defiance is top notch. It’s crisp but heavy, just what this style of metal needs. All the times I have seen them on stage they have shown extreme confidence in their own capabilities without being arrogant. It is this attitude towards their music that makes this CD sound so right. The tight drumming by Thomas Kalksma is accompanied by virtuous twin guitar work and a really convincing Koen Romeijn on vocals. There are also vocal guest appearances by Jorre Jansen (ex-Virulent), Daniel Nak (M-90`s) and George Oosthoek (Orphanage, Kutschurft).

The most intriguing part of the story of Detonation is that they don’t have a record deal yet. I can’t imagine why, because this band has everything you could possibly ask for. Good musicians, strong song material, a great stage appearance, you name it, they’ve got it. Let’s hope for Detonation that this year can be described in their biography as the year they inked a record deal, they fully deserve it.