Another day, another “supergroup” pops up and tries to catch your attention. Much like the “supergroup” of OV HELL (Shagarath, King, Frost), TRIDENT is comprised of members from excellent and established bands, namely axeman Johan Norman (ex-DISSECTION, SOULREAPER) and vocalist Tobias Sidegård (NECROPHOBIC).

The production of World Destruction is crystal clear, as the album was recorded at Andy LaRocque’s studio, but that fact does little to counteract the mediocrity of the songs. The overused “marching” intro in “The Trident” foreshadows a predictable album. Tracks like “Jaws of Satan” and “Nemesis” contain SOULREAPER/DISSECTION-like riffs, melodies, and blasts, but something is lacking. The songs feel too robotic without any emotion, and “Black Velvet Wings” includes a mid paced, melodic formula which is TRIDENT’s answer to DISSECTION’s “Where Dead Angels Lie.” The middle of the album suffers a bit with its run of the mill songs, and it’s not until the last few songs that World Destruction beings to show promise. The title track is very NECROPHOBIC inspired, with various tempos throughout, and if the entire album was like this, it would be pretty solid. The outro, “Mephisto” has some excellent acoustic guitar work and guitar leads, but the strong showing at the end of the album cannot balance out the overall disappointing output.

TRIDENT has come out of the scene from nowhere, and seems to be gaining ground in popularity because of Norman and Sidegård’s involvement in their previous bands. While the band certainly has capable musicians, their songs lack any enthusiasm or originality, and this style was already perfected and done better by DISSECTION, NECROPHOBIC, SACRAMENTUM, and WATAIN, just to name a few. World Destruction is unfortunately flat in the songwriting department from beginning to end, and certainly is not on par with the bands previously mentioned, who lead the way in the Swedish blackened metal genre. (Regain Records)