Reviews
2006-12-10
I have to say that judging from the band's photos, the musical genre they deal would have been the last genre I would have guessed they create. Out of 5 band members 3 sport short hair and one is a good-looking woman. A thrash band? Yep, that's right.
Mabon are a Swiss thrash/speed metal band with strong roots in 80's thrash, though the album's cover is another misleading motif (it looks like a death metal cover) the music is purely melodic thrash with strong playing, aggressive vocals with a melodic base, and a fine sound that rounds it all up.
Musically this certainly has a lot of early thrash basics, mostly bay-area thrash; I have to say, these guys (and gal) got the right feel in here, it's aggressive yet melodic and all 4 songs are very well written.
"Are You Blind", the second track, is one of the standouts here - fine riffs, good vocal delivery, it's catchy and has a good groove; the classic thrash riff starting at the third minute of the track is a real gem, there's also a great lead section after that.
The title track starts quietly with some smart clean guitar licks, drummer and bassist chime in, both perform admirably on this, and the track continues as a mid-paced thrash number. Again, retro 80's metal, but done right, and pre-chorus riff is great.
I'm looking forward for a full-length by this band, if they can keep up the level of quality they have here it's going to be a top notch album indeed.
Alon Miasnikov
