100 Years War-Onwards to Death album review by Mark Jenkins.
100 YEARS WAR: THE ENDLESS CAMPAIGN BY MARK JENKINS.
From "Onwards to Death" Through the Trenches of Extreme Music
By Mark Jenkins
Listen up, you trench-dwellers and basement-lurkers. If you've been sleeping on 100 Years War since their sophomore effort Onwards to Death dropped, you've been missing one of the most relentless, unforgiving campaigns in modern extreme music. This isn't your sanitised, Instagram-friendly metal – this is warfare distilled into pure sonic aggression.
THE TURNING POINT: "ONWARDS TO DEATH" (2025)
When these Australian d-beat death merchants dropped their second full-length, they didn't just step up their game – they napalmed the entire battlefield and rebuilt it from the ashes. Gone were the tentative experiments of their debut. What emerged was a band that had found its identity in the furnace of endless touring and had refined its hybrid of crushing death metal and relentless d-beat punk to surgical precision.
The production on Onwards to Death hits like a mortar shell – dense, devastating, but clear enough to hear every instrument carving its path through the carnage. The rhythm section operates like a well-oiled war machine, laying down the kind of foundation that could support a siege engine. When the guitars unleash those grinding riffs, it's not just heavy – it's oppressive, like being buried under the weight of history itself.
These abrasive skills shine immediately in the opening three tracks: This Fascist Kills Machines, Patience and The Sword. One heck of an early onslaught.
But here's what separates 100 Years War from the endless parade of war-obsessed metal bands: they understand that true warfare isn't just about the big explosions. It's about the grinding, day-to-day brutality. The psychological warfare. That's where their d-beat foundation becomes essential – those relentless, driving rhythms that mirror the mechanical repetition of conflict, the endless march of boots and the staccato of machine gun fire. They capture that in tracks that build tension like a sniper waiting for the perfect shot, but with the punk urgency that keeps you on edge. Case in point, the gritty classic: Prepare Yourself for War.
THE EVOLUTION CONTINUES
What's been fascinating watching this band develop is how they've managed to balance the cerebral brutality of death metal with the raw, street-level urgency of d-beat punk. It's a combination that shouldn't work as well as it does – death metal's technical precision meeting punk's fuck-everything attitude. But 100 Years War makes it sound inevitable. Their songwriting has become more sophisticated without losing any of its primal savagery or that driving punk energy that makes you want to put your fist through a wall.
The guitar work has evolved from simple brutality to something more complex – layers of dissonance that create an atmosphere of unease, but always anchored by those driving d-beat rhythms that refuse to let up. This phenomenal album has as many solid head nods to Bolt Thrower or Doom as His Hero Is Gone, TOTALITÄR and MARTYRDÖD. The vocals have developed new dimensions too, ranging from death growls that could wake the dead to the more direct, confrontational bark that comes straight from the punk playbook.
LIVE WARFARE
If you haven't seen 100 Years War live, you're missing the full experience. These guys don't just play shows – they conduct military operations. The stage presence is commanding without being theatrical, the sound is crushing without being sloppy, and the energy is relentless without feeling forced. They've shared stages with everyone from local hardcore bands to major festival acts, and they consistently prove they belong wherever they're placed.
The underground scene needs bands like this – acts that remember that extreme music should actually be extreme, not just loud. In an era where too many metal bands are content to rehash the same tired formulas, 100 Years War is writing their own tactical manual.
LOOKING TO THE HORIZON
Recent live performances suggest the band is not content to rest on its considerable laurels. The new songs from this record showcase a band that's learned to weaponise dynamics, knowing when to go for the throat and when to let the tension simmer.
The Australian extreme music scene has always had a raw, uncompromising edge, and 100 Years War represents the best of that tradition: uncompromising, intelligent, and absolutely devastating when they choose to be. They're not trying to be the biggest band in the world – they're trying to be the best at what they do. And what they do is conduct musical warfare with the precision of seasoned veterans.
FINAL TRANSMISSION
Onwards to Death has marked the moment when 100 Years War stopped being promising and became essential. Everything since has been a master class in how to evolve without compromising your core values. In a scene flooded with pretenders and poseurs, they stand as a reminder that authenticity and brutality can coexist – and when they do, the results are devastating.
Rating: 5/5 thermonuclear bombs
Keep your ears to the ground, soldiers. This war is far from over. We have an interrogation, sorry, interview coming up very soon.
Catch 100 Years War on their next offensive. Support the underground. Buy the merch. Spread the plague.
Buy this now:
https://100yearswar1.bandcamp.com/album/onwards-to-death
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