(Napalm)
Rating: 8.0
Seventh album from a band who by now could be considered one of the premier bands from the mid 2000’s ‘80s thrash revival. After several lineup changes over the years, singer John Kevill and Adam Carroll on guitar are the only mainstays from the original lineup.
Dramatic somewhat orchestrated with the sound effects and melodic two guitars short buildup to “The Sword and the Cross” before launching into thrash riffage and rolling bass. Reminisce of a Kreator delivery. Kevill lost none of his tone and aggressive genre vocal. Great mid-paced rhythm change too makes for a great arrangement, with those melodic leads and tasteful solo too. “A Better World” is straight to the point with a fast chorus.
Bass line comes through during “Neuromancer”, accenting guitar lead moments, pace change, with guttural vocal for fans of more modern Lamb Of God delivery. 3 minutes and 15 seconds “The Jackhammer” does as such in that unrelenting tempo.
Halfway point, “Through a Looking Glass, Darkly”, dramatic title, begins melodic with whispered voice, feel like a classic Nevermore aesthetic, moving into a rhythmic piece, not without the vocal that also works in a more sinister segment for accent. At first, I thought Schmier (Destruction) was singing the opening screams for “Strike From the Sky”, another tune with a nice needed riff and groove switch mid-way for the big gang vocals behind the chorus.
I can see this one in the live setlist. “Cage of Air” is another builder, a brief death metal blast beat, and another longer one (at six plus minutes) that tempo change halfway through, acoustic guitars, balances things out. “The Last of My Kind”, another 6 minutes, pushes forward switching between different tempos, challenging shred to melodic guitar parts. These last two songs remind me of things Opeth would do, rhythmic and melodically.
Strong, solid, reliable thrash from the new generation.
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