I have seen this band's name around the Brass Mug, in Tampa, where these guys play frequently. This band thrashes in a manner not unlike Overkill to some extent. But you can hear a great deal of influences coming from other thrash bands of that era, Testament being at the top of the list. I was expecting more nu-metal in their sound, and while they experiment a little with an electronic atmosphere on "The Black of Hell". They have captured a reasonably well-produced sound that might sound good at high volumes, but their songwriting so far is not that catchy or memorable, which is a skill that separates bands from being that one local band that does all the right things to draw a crowd and a national act whose album you listen to for years.
I think I heard the "Pentecostal" before sitting down to review, this album, but like I said about things not being memorable, well there you go. I can hear some similarities between these guys and Exhorder when their vocals sing in his more dramatic upper register. He retains a rasp to his tone and sounds better on some of the punchier growls. Though the song is dynamic and aggressive enough to work, with decent guitar work. The chords feel more like Machine Head or Slayer leading into "Parasite 6-4-2" The vocals are produced pretty well on this one. A more thrashing part pops out of nowhere which feels like an odd cut and paste. This would have sounded like next-level shit in the 90s, but now .. not so much,
I appreciate their willingness to write more melodically on "2000 Miles" as it does not feel like they are writing with their singer's strengths in mind. So he sounds like he is straining in the studio."Chaos For the Fly" finds the vocals taking on more throaty aggression then reverting to him belting it out with a power metal vibrato. He does growl but it's done in more of a Chuck Billy manner. When he takes the rasp higher it's pretty weak, At times it feels like their songwriting is reduced to just throwing riffs out and seeing what sticks. Though the breakdown riff of this song is one of their strongest they are inconsistent in this regard versus a band like Maul, who has an endless supply of killer riffs. What separates the pros from the weekend warriors.
The title track does not stand out from the other songs. In fact, it's more of the same thrashing. Maybe marginally more groove, though this margin makes it catchier. The riffs remind me of some of the more recent Flotsam & Jetsam. It's not until midway into "The Well" that they muster up a riff that catches my ear and then the rule here is ... cool riffs alone does not a good song make, There is a little more melody that brings some cohesion and makes it more of a worthwhile listen outside of that riff. "Slayer of Gods' comes across like filler on a Gwar album. They do not know that Chrvches already has a song called This and About This, though these guys are taking it from a different lyrical perspective. It's not much darker than their other songs and it should be. I do like these guys are playing melodic thrash , so I will give this album a 7.5 , If you like thrash you might dig it, but not the most original thing you are going to hear this week.
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