War Curse - Final Days EP

There are no prizes for guessing what style of music War Curse play. The band's chosen handle should be familiar to any Kreator fans out there as it's a song from the German thrasher's "Hordes of Chaos" album which we reviewed here. War Curse are closer to old school Bay Area thrash metal than the thrash coming from the European continent.

The press release states that Final Days is highly recommended for fans of Kreator, Megadeth, Havok and Testament. It's a little odd that Exodus aren't mentioned as their influence runs strong in every song. The vocals of Tarek Puska sound on all the songs like a cross between Steve Zetro and Chuck Billy with a stronger Exodus feel. "Blue Line of Injustice" is a slow thrasher that uses the template Slayer set with "South of Heaven". "Severed Crosses" is tight melodic thrash with a catchy chorus.

This is an impressive EP that will appeal to fans of eighties style thrash. I'm looking forward to hearing more from this tight unit known as War Curse. These guys get bonus points for rocking a Black Fast T-shirt on their facebook page cover photo.


3.5/5

War Curse on facebook



Check out "Final Days" on bandcamp.

Osmium Guillotine - Osmium Guillotine

Ever watched any episode of Doctor Who? The British doctor travels in a phone box through time and space. There are many options to capture the feeling of time and space travel through music. One option is to check out older albums and close your eyes and imagine traveling through space and also picturing the time the album was released. Another option is to pick up a new album by a new band covering old ground. With metal, this is easy with retro-thrash and death metal bands playing the old-school style.

An obvious comparison to make with Osmium Guillotine and Doctor Who is the fact that they're both from the United Kingdom. Osmium Kingdom have their feet partially entrenched in the New Wave of British Metal however there are also elements of the original wave of thrash metal so the band's music voyages through metal's past despite being in the present. The vocals of Pete Keleris are of the clean and clear variety with no high pitched screaming. The drumming and bass playing are solid throughout the album. Lance Steele's guitar work really shines through whether he's soloing or Osmium Guillotine are playing as a unit.

The instrumental opener with its quiet build really gives no indication of what's to come but still works as an attention getter like a first song should. The follow-up tune "Martydom" let's the listener know that Osmium Guillotine mean business with their crunching riffs and quick rhythm that brings both early Maiden, Metallica and Anthrax to mind. Opening with a very traditional British metal sound, "D-Day" then becomes much faster paced with the guitar and bass reaching slamming speed. There is a slight hint of Joey Belladonna in the vocals on "Phobophobia" which could be due to the song's near blistering pace. Those who ran screaming when Metallica released the Black album will want to skip "Blight Upon Mankind" due to its slow tempo. "City of Chaos" however will bring a smile to thrash metal fans face. "Hobgolin" opens with a spoken part then the metal is slightly folked up. Whether it is done knowingly or not "Breathe it in, Son" recalls the early days of the crossover between metal and hardcore as there is a riff that is very similar to D.R.I.'s "Five Year Plan".

The only gripe with this album is the song "Subhuman" is too long. There's enough variety between the songs for multiple listens. Osmium Guillotine have released a very good debut album and are a band definitely worth keeping an eye on. Click on the bandcamp link below and give the album a listen for yourself.


4/5


Osmium Guillotine on Bandcamp

Osmium Guillotine on Facebook

Toxic Waltz "Decades of Pain"

  Is it even necessary to explain which genre a band who picked a moniker from an Exodus song and have an album title that isn't miles away from that of a Slayer live album?  If you're guessing that these five Bavarians are in a jazz fusion band, then you're reading the wrong blog.  It's highly possible that the title to the opening song " Intro" was chosen as a tribute to a Testament ballad.

Toxic Waltz are a throwback to the peak of eighties thrash metal.  Exodus is indeed a major influence on the bands sound and style however there are pieces of 80's Metallica and Slayer in there too.  The vocals fall somewhere between the spitting razor blades style of Steve Souza and the louder and throatier hardcore style of Gordo from Ratos De Paroa.  The riffing is tight as hell.  With two guitarist, it's the guitar sound that is in the forefront here with the drums mostly playing second fiddle despite the fact that the drummer is no slacker.  The gallop leading into "World of Hate" proves this but it's the guitar sound that provides the crunch and there's a Metallica of old style slowing and breathing before going for the throat.  "Toxic Hell" is pure Exodus but really what else would you expect?  It's an enjoyable romp although not quite as hooky as the band Toxic Waltz take their major inspiration from.  "Suicide Squad" however is catchy number that has hooks and riff in spades.  "Priest of Lies" simply thrashes.  Tight and fast.  It's difficult not to imagine the song causing utter chaos in the front row whenever it's played live.   Slayer plays a part in the serial killer ode "Obsession to Kill" with insane vocals that are a cross between Steve Souza and Scooby Doo.  If this was an 80's song, this track would be considered proto-death metal.

A weakness on "Decades of Pain" is that a few of the songs do seem a little too similar to each other.   The two closing songs, "Suicide Squad" and "Obsession to Kill" are the highlights as they veer a little from the path these Bavarians have set for themselves.
However, Toxic Waltz's thrashing is very welcoming.  I'll definitely dive in and give it another try.  Check out "Priest of Lies" on the band's facebook bandpage.

3/5

Toxic Waltz on facebook

Amok - Somewhere In Time

  Many of the UK thrash metal bands back in the 80's never managed to get into the first or second tier.  Xentrix and Slammer are possibly the only thrashers from that period of time and corner of the world that ever managed to leave an impression but it was never as large as their German and American cousins.

  Decades later Evile have fought their way into the first tier of retro-thrash but there's a Scottish band called Amok following hot on their heels.  These guys don't sound the average pub metal band who have plugged away for years playing the requisite Metallica/Megadeth and Slayer due to the melodic vocals of Stephen Matulevicze   being close to Joey Belladonna which lends Amok that sound Anthrax achieved when they were on the top of their game.  There are a few moments here and there were he sounds like late 80's Chuck Billy as some of the echo effects could have come from "Practice What You Preach" .  This is a thrash metal frontman isn't scared to prove that he has singing ability.  When was the last time you heard an Anthrax cover in your favorite music dive bar?  Yeah, I can't remember either.  Deciphering the lyrics isn't difficult due to the vocals and the fact that they come through crisp and clearly.

The music backing up the vocals is largely reminiscent of Anthrax too.  The riffing is crunchy and technical and backed with strong speedy drumming. Despite the speed, it never sound like the individual musicians are competing in a race to the finish line.   It's not all full-on thrash either as some of the guitar sounds are clearly from the Maiden songbook but throughout "Somewhere in the West", it's Joey Belladonna period Anthrax that come to mind.  "Lawbreakers" has an undeniable New York sound as there's a tinge of New York hardcore bands like Gorilla Biscuits in the guitar sound and rhythm section.   Some may write Amok off as a clone band but in an age of  Cookie Monster soundalike bands putting brutality ahead of writing music , Amok's easily accessible Anthrax sound is both very welcome and highly enjoyable.  Wherever you are on the globe, it's time to listen to Amok run so make time to kill time and click their bandcamp link to listen this album.

3.5/5

Amok's bandcamp



Amok on facebook




Small Takeover on facebook

Critical Solution - "Evil Never Dies"

Plate o' Shrimp.  In Repoman, one of the best movies ever made, a hippie burnout talks out how you might be thinking about one thing and then for some unknown reason someone else mentions something else that is somehow connected.  The point being that nothing in life is actually random.  In the comments section of the review of One God or Another, I made mention of Metallica and then next up got around to listening to "Evil Never Dies" by Critical Solution, one of the many albums lined up for review in the email box.

Critical Solution live and breath 80's thrash metal to the point that they will give Evile a serious run for the money in the Metallica clone stakes.  A number of sites could easily be fooled into thinking some of these tracks are new Metallica.  The vocalist is closer to the James Hetfield of the 1980's than James Hetfield is capable of getting these days.  A large amount of the riffing is an enjoyable voyage into the Bay Area's past.  "This Burning Hate" takes the "And Justice For All" template and improves it in a number of ways.  What are they?  It's a lot shorter than any of the songs on that album and  it's easy to hear all the instruments.



The gang vocals throughout the album are a trip back to the time Testament released "Practice What You Preach" and that was the only variant from the template Metallica had set.  For those that need a history lesson, they were far from the only band stealing the blueprint, check out Onslaught's "In Search of Sanity" and a bunch of others that were released around the same period of time.

Proving that it's  not all retro-thrash as "War Machine" harks back to the days of NWOBM and there's definitely more than a tinge of early Iron Maiden in there.  The steady drumming as the song changes tempo is one of the highlights of the song.  It's also catchy with a crunchy guitar sound that's easy to sink your teeth into.


It's a little mind-blowing that some of the guys in this band weren't even born when Metallica first became a radio-friendly unit shifter.  A concept album is an ambitious project for a debut album unless of course you count "Kill 'Em All" as a concept album about how Metallica will kick your ass.  Critical Solution's concept is much more mature as its about greed and power and follows a character named Wallace Green who wants to assassinate a king.  These guys hail from Norway but recorded  this album at Andy La Rocque's studio in Sweden.  Mr La Rocque even appears in a couple of bonus covers, "Killed By Death and "Seek and Destroy".    Fans of the first three Metallica albums should check this out as it's a highly enjoyable listen although it might even be a little to close for some listeners.

3.5/5

http://critical-solution.net/

Small Takeover on facebook

Pitch Black Mentality - The Pitch Black Reality

There are rules that music reviewers should follow in order to be credible.

1) Don't talk about your day.  No one cares. Everybody else has theirs which is more important to them than yours.

2) Don't pick a band or artist as a regular whipping boy.  If you choose Nickelback or Justin Bieber what separates you from the other clones?

3) Ignore the opinions of others.  This applies to writing reviews and reading others before setting out on yours.

4) Write about the music and try not to make "I" statements.  It's the music that is important not you.

As rules were made to be broken it's time to break rule 3 and 4 because I read a few reviews of this album before listening to it and the thrash metal lable confused me as soon as I heard the first song "Carpe Demon".  The opening riffs and the vocalist's voice are "Vulgar Display of Power" Pantera and the speed isn't really there for the most part.  The albums title songs follows this track and opens as a speedier thrasher but there's no way that the speed by Pitch Black Mentality can be maintained for over six minutes.  The vocals fall somewhere between Steve Souza and Joey Belladonna but lacking the power of the former and the melody of the latter.  

The promised thrash seems to come via "Tool of War" which promises a "Battery" type thrashing however it's closer to the power metal Helloween were churning out at their peak in the eighties.   In "Red Light" the band succeed in thrashing in three minutes in a half and there's an undeniable Bay Area influence.  "Silent Voice" is more of the same except this song is so much better.   It's a thrasher and there are no attempts at singing although there is a semi-spoken part.  Drums are pummeled at a rapid pace at the outset of "Truth Denied" then melodic power metal vocals come into play now and again.   This would be a great song but this band keep wanting to surprise the listener and  enjoy shooting themselves in the foot. 

Most of the songs on this album are too long and they're not even up to the length of many early of "Death Magnetic" Metallica tunes.  Pitch Black Reality aren't a thrash metal band but a band with elements of thrash and power metal.  The sum of testicles in a vice screams and melodic parts never really fit that well into thrash metal in the 1980's and even though the musical landscape has changed, jigsaw puzzles haven't.

 It's clear that this band are searching for direction.  My advice is to lose the high pitched screams and ditch both the Micheal Kiske and Phil Anselmo attempts and embrace thrash metal in its purist form. 

2/5.  

Pitch Black Mentality on facebook.

Wardance

Playing Killing Joke's debut was one of those things that made me think of other connected things. Wardance made me think of Anthrax back when they all wore silly shorts, carried skateboards and talked about all the hardcore they listened to when by hardcore they actually meant Journey. I swore Anthrax also had a song called "Wardance". They don't as it was part of the song "Indians". It has been a few years.

Also with rugby season in full swing the haka also came to mind. This had me illogically searching for the Spice Girls' version but coming up empty and a better man for that.

Killing Joke



Anthrax - Indians