UMUR
"War of Losers" is the first demo recording by Finnish thrash metal act Defection. Defection formed in 1987 and released "War of Losers" later the same year. Some sources claim that a 1990 demo also exists, but I have found no evidence of the existence of such a demo yet.
Stylistically the four tracks on the 20:01 minutes long demo is pretty standard fare thrash metal with a staccato shouting/talking type vocalist, and although Defection certainly are a capable band and they also write some pretty effective thrash metal tunes, "War of Losers" is overall a standard quality release for the genre. The sound production is a bit thin sounding, but especially the lead guitars and harmony parts actually sound pretty great.
Upon conclusion Defection is a footnote in the history of Finnish thrash metal, but it´s not because of the quality of "War of Losers" which is decent, but it´s because of the songwriting which may be effective, but it´s not particularly memorable and Defection´s style of thrash metal simply doesn´t stand out on the scene, if you take into consideration that this is a 1987 thrash metal demo. A 2.5 - 3 star (55%) rating is warranted.
