Heavy
Metal label Metal Blade Records have
a thing for finding bands that are up and coming and making them into
internationally renowned bands and host some of the best older bands as well, so
what surprise is there when I tell you 90s Thrashers Artillery. This is a band who has found a way to make every album
sound modern while keeping true to what they’ve done from the beginning. While “Penalty By Perception” is only the
bands eighth album over a 26 year career plagued with breakups it is an album
that moves that band forward in sound.
The
album opens with “In Defiance of
Conformity” and my first notice was the vocal prowess Michael Dahl brings to the table, after a brief nature intro
(thunderstorms and crickets and what not) a riff reminiscent of something Volbeat would write kicks in keeping
the guitars clean while a quite spoken word section plays out, but quickly the
song kicks into the thrashy goodness everyone wants. The main riff is a fairly
standard Speed Metal riff that has a gritty contrast to Dahl’s almost Power Metal style of vocals, the second time the
chorus comes around you can tell this song could easily become an Arena Rock
with the chant of “Fight! Fight!” in
between lines. The section where Dahl
is singing “In defiance of conformity”
is rather unique as well, while matches the guitar’s tone before making the
vocals soar higher but that’s not the truly unique part, if this section were
instrumental you would still be able to hear the words as Michael and Morten Stutzer
are able to make the guitars sing. The guitar solos in this song are also very misleading;
the first solo is cool but lacklustre and makes you think “is that all?” before
belting out a blistering, face melting solo with the main riff being cranked
out in the background.
Following
the opening is “Live by the Scythe”
which is one of the strongest songs although I have a very minor, kind of funny
issue with the song. The song is thrashy in all the right ways and the speed
chug riff in the chorus is a true neck breaker, my only stupid little issue
(and maybe I’m a tad bit OCD because of it) is the fact that Dahl pronounces the
“C” in “Scythe,” that’s all. Probably what I would consider the most technical
and bordering fastest song on the album is “Rites of War” as soon as the guitar started I was hooked, but what
I really liked in this is the consistent drumming that could somehow keep up
with everything the guitars were doing and playing some of the weirdest bass
patterns I’ve heard. The vocals reminded me a bit of Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs”
as well, while being sung out over instrumentals unlike “War Pigs.” Dahl starts
off low and gradually gets his vocals way up high, then start up high on the next
line and make their way down, the solo comes flying out of nowhere, and I mean
flying, until the end of the song with a almost cartoony/Donkey Kong riff being
played under it.
All in
all, incredibly impressed with this release, I was a bit iffy to start as I
remember listening to the previous release “Legions” and not being too keen or impressed. Artillery took Thrash
to a whole new level with “Penalty by
Perception” incorporating Power, Speed and even a little bit of Death Metal
into everything. If you’re a fan of what the Big 4 USE to be, pick up “Penalty by Perception” as soon as
humanly possible, it’ll restore your faith in Thrash! Oh, and they’re a power
ballad sort of song on it, so you know, you can even get your significant other
hooked on it and still get badass guitar solos when they keep listening to it.
98/100
No comments:
Post a Comment