Abandoned- Thrash Notes

Abandoned- Thrash Notes
Dockyard 1 - DY100170 – 20/02/06
By Sam Brokenshaw

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Don't get me wrong here, Abandoned rock pretty damned hard and this album is also pretty well produced. Fans of thrash and that S band* will probably be in complete rapture to these guys and fair enough, but for me there's just a bit too much S band worship going on here. Thrash Notes blasts out of the gates at a fair old pace with a sound somewhat reminiscent of The Haunted's debut album, only with more blatant S band worship going on. The 1-2 thrash drum patterns are evident in force and propel the music at a fair old gait, likewise the other instruments and the vocals are more than competent and this band sounds like they've spent long enough rehearsing in the garage to put on a tight and controlled performance. The odd piece of melodeath harmonisation makes things interesting from time to time, sounding like a cross between the way Metallica used to write entwined guitar parts and the more In Flames method, (or should that be 'stolen from Iron Maiden' Method?)

Thrash Notes pretty much does what it says on the cover, you're unlikely to be surprised at the content, but if you're looking for some gun barrel straight thrash mayhem this release will probably work for you. The band race through the down-picked riffs and the galloping, syncopated thrash sections with ease, throwing in the ubiquitous catchy chorus that'll keep the Wacken faithful banging their heads until November at the earliest. The ultimate gauge for enjoying this album is probably this...do you own a sleeveless denim jacket with more than twenty thrash band patches? If you answered 'Hell Yes! \m/' then head on over to Dockyard One and purchase this, if you answered 'No!' then it's fair to say, don't bother. Personally I can't justify going crazy over this album, but maybe the hardcore thrash crowd can.

5/10

*That's Slayer, for the clueless.

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