First off, thanks to Britt for turning me on to these guys
For those of you who are fans of Nevermore or who were fans of Greg Wagners work with Archetype, I would highly recommend the debut CD by Shatter Messiah, entitled Never to Play the Servant. Aside from Wagner, the band also features Curran Murphy (Annihilator, Nevermore touring guitar player). Rumor had it that Murphy always wanted to become a permanent member of Nevermore, but was never asked. If anyone doubted the veracity of those rumors, all doubt is set aside with Murphys work on this disc.
The music is a combination of Dark Power Metal and Thrash. However, the similarities to Nevermore dont end there. The themes that run through the songs on Never to Play the Servant, exhibit a very Nevermorian aesthetic. Lastly, Wagners vocal delivery suggests a Dane influence that I never noted during his time with Archetype. Yet, despite all these parallels, Shatter Messiah are in no way a Nevermore clone. Instead, they simply operate in a similar headspace.
Overall, this is a very solid debut. Because the energy, intensity and pace of this disc is in a constant state of flux, I find its capable of holding my attention from beginning to end. Sadly, it seems that fewer and fewer discs actually do this. In a genre where bands release a debut and then vanish into the ether, Shatter Messiah is a group I hope manages to push onward, as Im interested to see what they do next.
Samples can be found here:
http://www.shattermessiah.com/multimedia_home.htm
Zod
For those of you who are fans of Nevermore or who were fans of Greg Wagners work with Archetype, I would highly recommend the debut CD by Shatter Messiah, entitled Never to Play the Servant. Aside from Wagner, the band also features Curran Murphy (Annihilator, Nevermore touring guitar player). Rumor had it that Murphy always wanted to become a permanent member of Nevermore, but was never asked. If anyone doubted the veracity of those rumors, all doubt is set aside with Murphys work on this disc.
The music is a combination of Dark Power Metal and Thrash. However, the similarities to Nevermore dont end there. The themes that run through the songs on Never to Play the Servant, exhibit a very Nevermorian aesthetic. Lastly, Wagners vocal delivery suggests a Dane influence that I never noted during his time with Archetype. Yet, despite all these parallels, Shatter Messiah are in no way a Nevermore clone. Instead, they simply operate in a similar headspace.
Overall, this is a very solid debut. Because the energy, intensity and pace of this disc is in a constant state of flux, I find its capable of holding my attention from beginning to end. Sadly, it seems that fewer and fewer discs actually do this. In a genre where bands release a debut and then vanish into the ether, Shatter Messiah is a group I hope manages to push onward, as Im interested to see what they do next.
Samples can be found here:
http://www.shattermessiah.com/multimedia_home.htm
Zod