Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Invasion - ...And So It Begins


We are pretty deep into the thrash resurgence at this point. While few of these bands were original in the first place, it definitely seems like we’re beyond the point of saturation now. That isn’t to say that there aren’t many great bands still putting out solid thrash records, but there are definitely becoming too many thrash bands to keep track of. While Sweden’s Invasion does partially fall into this category, they do have some elements that prevent them from falling into obscurity.

…And So It Begins” is pretty much exactly what you would expect Swedish thrash to sound like. It of course has the essential thrash riffs, but they are channeled through some weird offspring of the famed old-school Swedish death metal guitar tone. In addition, the band has some riffs that would not be out of place on “Slaughter of the Soul” or various other melodic death metal records. With the use of blast beats and extremely harsh (but not guttural) vocals, this record straddles the line between thrash and death metal. The closest point of comparison is to fellow Swedish thrashers Carnal Forge. The music is relenting; the drums never stop or slow down, while the guitars supply an endless stream of riffs. Unfortunately, this makes the record fall a bit flat. Playing with intensity is great, but there are no real highs or lows on this album; it’s simply 41 minutes of thrashing. The vocals tend to remain fairly monotonous, and while there are plenty of good riffs on the album, few of them are truly memorable. Ultimately, your enjoyment of “…And So It Begins” is mainly dependent on how much you enjoy the Swedish influences the band brings, and whether or not you are interested in a relentless thrash assault.


Invasion may not be the most original band, but they are just distant enough from the crowd to be enjoyable. Personally, this is not my favourite style of thrash, but it is certainly serviceable. It would be nice to see more emphasis on distinctive songwriting, and maybe some more guitar solos or even Iron Maiden-esque leads to keep things interesting. Despite all of my criticism, there are too many riffs on the album to not give it at least a couple of thorough listens.

Be sure to check out and like Invasion on Facebook!

Highlights
"...And So It Begins"
"Dystopia Arise"

Final Rating
3.5/5 or 70%. 

Written by Scott