Game Over – Blessed Are The Heretics

Italy’s best thrash band, Game Over, is hot off the heels of their most impressive release to date. 2016’s “Crimes Against Reality” showed them transcending into thrash stardom, and the band has wasted little time in preparing their next effort: “Blessed Are The Heretics”. This 6-track EP is a far different offering. It consists of 1 new song, 3 live tracks, a cover, and a previously recorded song, now with Italian lyrics. Of course, the original song is the most intriguing piece on this new record. Unfortunately, it doesn’t quite live up to the band’s previous work. It opens with some enjoyable lead guitar work, but ultimately doesn’t thrash particularly hard. It’s not a bad track, but certainly a curious choice when compared to more straightforward work that the band has one in the past like “Neon Maniacs” or “Abyss of a Needle”. The song does pick up in the chorus though, which once again displays Game Over’s knack for writing absurdly catchy songs that are easy to sing along to.

The makeover of “No More” (now entitled “Mai Più”) is likely to be of interest to Italian fans. An EP is the perfect place to showcase this sort of effort, but admittedly, it doesn’t do much for me as a non-Italian speaker. The real highlights on “Blessed Are The Heretics” are the three live tracks. They show that the band are as deadly in a live setting as they are in the studio (and having seen them, I can confirm this as well!). “Mountains of Madness” is the best of the three, but special mention must go out to “Fix Your Brain”, which is even more effective live than it is on “Crimes Against Reality”. All three songs have a much clearer bass presence than they do on any of the band’s three studio records, which is a welcomed sound!

Though this EP was a slight letdown, it’s hard to fault Game Over. If there is any release that it is appropriate to experiment with covers, live songs, and re-recordings, it would be an EP. For megafans, there will be plenty to enjoy here (I’m now intrigued by the idea of a live Game Over record!). Still, it can’t replace the excitement that a new studio album would have, but given that it has only been a year since “Crimes Against Reality”, “Blessed Are The Heretics” is an appropriate follow-up for 2017.

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Highlights

"Mountains of Madness"

"Fix Your Brain"

Final Rating

3.9/5 or 78%. 

Written by Scott