Few things are guaranteed in life. Death. Taxes. Not a lot else. But, you can always rely on the thrash of Canadian’s Annihilator whose 17th album Ballistic Sadistic is about as solid a thrash album as you could wish for. With the line up lead once more by Jeff Waters (vocals and guitar) and supported by bassist Rich Hinks, guitarist Aragon Homma and drummer Fabio Alessandrini for the first time [2017’s For The Demented was almost entirely played by Waters with additional bits from Homma], Ballistic Sadistic is cohesive and fluid in a way that Annihilator albums sometimes fail to be.
There’s never been a doubt about Waters skills as a guitarist and Ballistic Sadistic contains sufficient solos and flashy add ons to maintain the faith of those with a six string fetish. Vocally, Waters is on fire, with a strong and forceful delivery which harks back to those early days of Alice In Hell and Never Neverland. Waters stated recently that he feels this is Annihilator’s best album since 2005’s Schizo Deluxe. I can’t agree with that; it’s actually on a par with those early 1990s classics in my opinion. Raging with an anger that has been burning for some time, Armed To The Teeth and The Attitude are ferocious from start to finish, with some vicious guitar work, the constant link between Alessandrini and Hinks providing a concrete foundation which never ever sounds like even chipping throughout.
There’s never been a doubt about Waters skills as a guitarist and Ballistic Sadistic contains sufficient solos and flashy add ons to maintain the faith of those with a six string fetish. Vocally, Waters is on fire, with a strong and forceful delivery which harks back to those early days of Alice In Hell and Never Neverland. Waters stated recently that he feels this is Annihilator’s best album since 2005’s Schizo Deluxe. I can’t agree with that; it’s actually on a par with those early 1990s classics in my opinion. Raging with an anger that has been burning for some time, Armed To The Teeth and The Attitude are ferocious from start to finish, with some vicious guitar work, the constant link between Alessandrini and Hinks providing a concrete foundation which never ever sounds like even chipping throughout.
Psycho Ward appears to be the mandatory ‘mental health’ song, a thundering track with an unusually mellow melody in the middle and some neat guitar work to boot. It wouldn’t be Annihilator without one song like this. Elsewhere the usual heads down thrashing is everywhere, with songs like I Am Warfare and Dressed Up For Evil destined for live favourites. Lip Service is the one song where the usual Megadeth’s comparison could be focused, Hink’s pumping bass intro and Waters snarl over an infectious riff conjuring up comparisons with a certain Mr Mustaine, but otherwise this is a fine track with some quality interplay. Annihilator have produced a contemporary thrash album for the 2020’s. It’s not fussy, over complicated but it is superbly delivered. Mixed, engineered and produced by Waters, Annihilator show no sings of slowing down. Few would argue that they should. 8/10
Napalm Death: Logic Ravaged By Brute Force EP (Century Media Records) [Rich Oliver]
Logic Ravaged By Brute Force is the new 7” EP from Brummie grindcore legends Napalm Death. It is being released prior to their upcoming European tour with Eyehategod, Misery Index, Rotten Sound and Bat. It is a very short release comprised of only two songs and sees the band venturing into more experimental territories. The first track is the title track and very much has a post-punk feel to it although post-punk given the Napalm Death treatment. It has a slow to middling pace to it with very discordant riffs giving it a very desolate feel. Barney Greenway mixes his trademark roar with some pained and anguished clean vocals adding to the desperate feel of the song. The second track is a cover of White Kross by Sonic Youth and is similar in style to the title track being very dissonant and bleak. Having not heard the Sonic Youth original I am unable to compare it. Being only two songs and under 8 minutes in length it’s over before you know it and whilst not an essential release being more of a collectors only item for the Napalm Death fanbase it is interesting to hear Napalm Death experimenting in other realms of sonic depravity. An interesting but non-essential listen. 6/10
Decarlo: Lightning Strikes Twice (Frontiers Records) [Paul Hutchings]
I suppose if you like melodic rock then the likes of Boston, Foreigner, Survivor and REO Speedwagon will all be in your favourites. Decarlo will fit neatly into that list. I don’t mind a bit of AOR; Boston’s debut album remains one of my favourite records of all time, but I struggled with Lighting Strikes Twice. It’s certainly polished, smooth as velvet and perfectly produced. Decarlo are unsurprisingly fronted by Tommy DeCarlo (who has been performing with Boston since 2007 after the death of singer Brad Delp; Decarlo’s arrival as singer of his favourite band is the stuff of dreams) and son Tommy DeCarlo Jr on guitar, with Dan Hitz on drums. When the band hit the harder rock vein it’s not bad at all. The title track, heavily laced with thick keyboards, opener A Better Day with its Boston feel and Rock N’ Soul all comfortably stand their ground with DeCarlo Jr adding some neat guitar. Songs you could hum along to on a road trip with the top down and the wind in your hair (yes, I can remember that feeling before you say anything).
It’s when the band move into the creepy love songs with the sugar-coated harmonies that I start to feel nauseous. I find that quite astonishing, given my love of cheese, but this is more challenging than a camembert three-month’s past its use by date. Three absolute belters at least on this album which pushed well into the upper echelons of the upchuck scale. Still In Love brought a lump of bile to the back of the throat, There She Goes added to the pain but it was The One which forced a full discharge of stomach contents. It’s grim stuff indeed and something almost impossible to listen to more than once. I’ll give it half marks but anything that makes me feel so bilious doesn’t get anything better. 5/10
Last Frontier: Aether - Equivalent Exchange (Revalve Records) [Matt Bladen]
From Italy I couldn't find a huge amount of information on Last Frontier until with a bit of Googling (or Binging if that's a thing) I came across their record company page where they have a comprehensive history of the band. They were formed in 2005 by guitarist Mimmo Natale and keyboardist Cyrion Faith who remain in the band to this day after going through two previous full length releases and multiple members they hit the studio in 2018-2019 to record this record suspending their intense live activities and gaining new singer Marco Cantoni (Cyrax, ShiversAddiction) to bring their third record to life. So what does it actually sound like? Well it's what I would call atmospheric/epic heavy metal, a mixture of traditional and progressive heavy metal categorized by heavy riffs, crunching rhythms, odd time signatures and a layering of impressive keys/synths. Many of the songs here have an epic feel to them Wings Of Stone is almost operatic, with choirs and the range of Marco on display, he's got a powerful range but does go a little mad occasionally where it's not needed and sometimes the songs do tend to plod along a little as it runs out of puff towards the end. Aether is a competent third album from this Italian metal act, for me they were a passing curiosity that did pay off. 6/10
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