I am first going to preface this review by saying I have never heard of the band before. However, they tout themselves as thrash/power metal, two genres that I love, and this album is an ode to 80s horror, which I also love, and seems like a match made in heaven. It released back in February and I sadly missed it, but am excited to dive into it now and see what I missed out on!
Opener ‘Ancient Evil’ sets the tone for the album perfectly. Opening on not one or two but three early-Metallica-esque riffs in a row, the band set up their 80s inspired thrash sound perfectly. The vocals soon come in over the top, fitting the genre and style perfectly. It’s low and powerful and yet the melodies are catchy as hell. The backing vocals add to the catchiness too, complimenting the lead awesomely. And the chanting in the chorus was great too. I only wish it ran all the way through, not stopping after the first couple of bars! The bridge was simple yet effecting, letting the guitars showcase their impressive rhythm skill. However, the real highlight is the drummer, who’s insane double-pedal work throughout the whole track blew my mind a little bit. He really worked his ass off! Then a final chorus takes us home in style. This was a fantastic way to open the album, showcasing exactly what the band are like from a style and sound perspective.
‘Dead Center’ keeps the tempo and energy high. It’s more of the same but that is anything but a bad thing. If anything, the higher vocals are even better and more impressive than the lower ones, especially when the backing vocals come in behind. While I enjoyed the riffs in the previous track more, this song is amazing overall, and has slightly more of a radio-friendly feel to it. And we got a technical masterclass of a guitar solo tucked in the middle. Plus, it leads directly and perfectly into the drop-out to just vocals, which I also loved. Everything about this song is amazing, and it easily makes our playlist!
The acoustic guitar in the opening of ‘Alter of Fear’ was a really interesting touch that I LOVED. It’s a shame it didn’t play a bigger part in the song after that. However, it’s still a quirky addition to the track that could be considered a risk, yet massively payed off! However, it does herald the slightly lighter tone the track has, that certainly made for an interesting listen. While still firmly grounded in thrash, this had much more of a NWOBHM feel to it than the previous tracks. It wasn’t a total change of pace, but different enough to stand out and be another great listen. It actually really reminded me of Trivium’s The Crusade album, which (controversially) I loved, and I love this song too!
‘Spectre’ also then changes the pace yet again, while again still maintaining the band’s root sound. This one has more of a stomping groove metal edge to it, kinda like Prong’s recent stuff. I love the slower pace to it, and the riffing and vocals all fit it perfectly. Heck, we get some harsher vocals and screams in this as well as the melodic cleans, both sounding just as good as each other. We get plenty of awesome guitar work in the bridge too, as is expected from the band at this point. It’s another incredible song, and another that sneaks its way onto our playlist!
Things slow down with ‘Child of the Corn’. It starts as an acoustic ballad of a track, and a brilliant one at that. The vocals almost remind me of Aaron Lewis, giving it all an interesting, great alt-rock edge to it all. And once again, the vocal harmonies are incredible. The instruments slowly build in more and more; drums, bass, some awesome electric lead guitar before the distortion kicks in and the energy shifts and the track kicks into full gear and back into thrash. It’s awesome, and shift is masterfully written and performed. The chorus is heavy but still catchy, the vocals again hitting some impressively high notes. It drops back down around the midpoint, building back up perfectly into an epic finale. It’s another amazing track, and the third to make it onto our Spotify with ease! I’d recommend this song to anyone!
As expected, the thrash comes back in full force with ‘God of Terror’. However, that little bit where it drops back to acoustic guitar was awesome, not only giving it some awesome dynamics but giving off theatrical, Nightmare before Christmas vibes. Again, I’d loved for the band to have revisited the idea later in the track. However, it is still a great song, with some amazing lead guitar work, a catchy chorus, and once again the drummer working overtime!
The rest of the album is pretty interesting, too. Tracks like ‘Primitive Shadows’, ‘Shiver’ and the closer are all heavy, awesome thrash songs that are just as good as any other on the album. However, surprisingly both ‘Dreams’ and ‘Always’ slow things down again, and rather brilliantly I might add. The former falls somewhere between an early 2000s metalcore ballad and something Queensryche would put out, and I’m all for it. The guitaring is a really highlight of the track, but the vocals throughout are also incredible. Meanwhile, with the focus on the acoustic guitar (finally for a full track, yey!) it almost gives off more Coheed and Cambria or Breed 77 vibes. Both are awesome songs in their own right, and well worth checking out!
Overall: I loved this! I went in with no expectations and was honestly blown away. It’s exactly the sort of style and sound I love, and as such I loved every single song on it. There isn’t a bad track on this album, and almost every one stands out as on its own and as a highlight. If you’re a fan of thrash, metalcore, or just metal in general, check this out, you’re sure to love it as much as I did. I’d almost mad at myself for not finding this on the day it was released, but I’m just glad I have it now and will certainly be listening to it a lot over the coming weeks and months. The band have a big new fan in me, and this album will certainly be up there in the albums of the year discussion come December!
The Score: 9.5/10