2005-10-27
This is the thrash outfit (?)'s first full release, and quite frankly, its unlike anything I know, it reminds me of a shit load of stuff, but there's something strange and different about this album.
They first come off as pure sounding thrash, a fast riff starts off "Stealing E.T", and then there's the classic thrash trick of combining the first thrash riff with an open one in the opposite channel, "OK, I told myself, this is an 80's thrash album, that's great", the sound is a bit fuzzy, but then, so was the sound in most of the 80's classic thrash albums, it comes of as a bit of early Kreator with some Celtic Frost fuzziness thrown in, but there's something more sophisticated, a wider array of riffs in this, I actually thought about Atrophy for a minute, same half-shouted vocals and plenty of fast riffs.
The "Thrash!" shout that proceeds the excellent lead break in the first track was awesome, and that is another thing I liked about the album, though sounding a bit thick and old-school at times, the lead work in nothing less then stellar throughout.
Orange And Black Attack, possibly the motto of the band, is another great thrash song, catchy chorus, again, smart riffing, it grows more on you with every successive listen to the album.
It's in the third track that things start to go crazy, there's something that comes off as unhinged in this, it has a bit of a hard core quirkiness in it, and some of the riffing definitely not thrash oriented, but the track after that, The Day Merman Met Todd "The Harpoon" Wilson, is the one that absolutely made me shake my head in amazement, there are so many genres thrown in this that it's impossible to label it.
It really doesn't matter, their musicianship is top-notch, there's tones of attitude and humor, and great riffs and ideas, it has the simpleton charm of the 80's, with the mad genius of some current stuff, I like this a lot now, and I believe I'll like this even more in the weeks to come.
Alon Miasnikov
