Envenomed – Evil Unseen

After being independently released in 2014, Envenomed’s “Evil Unseen” is seeing a 2015 reissue by none other than the very prolific thrash label: Punishment 18 Records. This label is the most appropriate place for these Australian thrashers, as this record delivers an experience that is sure to get some heads moving. Envenomed’s brand of thrash is a little bit different from most of their peers. They look back to a simpler time when thrash was about songs, and not just speed. This means that their music can get incredibly melodic at times, both vocally and musically. Their singer has the ideal range for this style of thrash. Though he’s not a copy of someone like Joey Belladonna, he is a good approximation for talent. Envenomed’s singer can get more aggressive when he needs to, but also spends a lot of time singing in a more melodic fashion.

The band’s style of thrash is quite similar. There is no shortage of hard-hitting riffs, but they are intertwined with melodies that allow the music room to breathe. This creates for a much more balanced attack than Australian counterparts Harlott, for example (though their take on thrash is equally thrilling). Sometimes it feels just a little bit too modern, but soon enough, Envenomed brings back the riffing to remind you that this is a thrash album. It also helps that the production is on point. The guitars are meaty, and have a giant crunch, while the drums correctly manage to be the backbone of the band’s sound. This is particularly evident on "Disobeying The Beast", which features plenty of mid-paced, stompingly heavy sections.

Still, “Evil Unseen” leaves the listener wanting just a little bit more. Envenomed hits the mark so well on a song like “Will of Man”, that it makes much of the record frustrating because they fail to replicate those heights again. This style of thrash metal is very conducive to writing memorable songs, yet after quite a few listens to this album, not enough sticks. The band clearly has the talent to make their music stand out, but it’s a consistency issue. Nonetheless, “Evil Unseen” is an interesting and worthwhile listen because it’s a modern version of a once popular take on thrash metal.

Be sure to check out and like Envenomed on Facebook!

Highlight

"Will of Man"

Final Rating

3.7/5 or 74%. 

Written by Scott

Progressive Chemistry – Out For Blood

“Out For Blood” is the newest full-length album from American death/groove band Progressive Chemistry. Their sound spans a variety of subgenres and styles largely focused in heavy metal, but occasionally showing outside influence as well. With that said, the primary sound they employ is an interesting hybrid of death metal with lots of groove (with more emphasis on the latter). In general, this means that you’ll get plenty of growling, alongside riffs that would fit in death metal songs, but played considerably slower. Sometimes it makes the band sound more restrained than they should be, but clearly their focus is not on playing as fast as is humanly possible.

Admittedly, this style is not my thing, but the band is able to create something that even I can enjoy. The first two full tracks, “Hostile Intent” and “Out For Blood”, are definitely the best on the album because feature the strongest, most interesting riffs, as well as the most cohesive songwriting. Subsequent to these songs, the band occasionally goes off the rails a little bit. One example is the punky “Prosthetic”. Barely cracking 90 seconds, this song sounds like it was influenced by any number of classic hardcore punk bands, but it doesn’t quite fit in with the rest of the record. Similarly, the track “Haunted” shows the band experimenting with clean vocals, and to put it quite bluntly, it just does not work. This song actually opens with a cool clean guitar section that features an awesome shredding solo over top, but quickly falls apart when the vocals enter. Unfortunately these vocals also show up elsewhere on the album, such as on "Inside You", where the band abandons any trace of death metal in favour of full-on groove metal. 

“Out For Blood” does show a lot of promise, but it also has room for improvement. While there are pockets of bands who thrive on the groove sound, it feels like this sound is designed to strip away everything that makes death metal or thrash metal great. If Progressive Chemistry tightens up the production, keeps the tempos consistently high with a more punk/thrash-style beat, and drops the clean vocals altogether, it would be easy to see them ascending the ranks of metal in America. This style just feels like it’s waiting to explode into something more aggressive.

Be sure to check out and like Progressive Chemistry on Facebook!

Highlights

"Hostile Intent"

"Out For Blood"

Final Rating

3.1/5 or 62%. 

Written by Scott 

Abraxxas – The Killing Fields

Australian thrash group Abraxxas has recently put forth their second release a little over a year after their first demo. “The Killing Fields” shows the band taking a step forward in every aspect: production, songwriting, and performance. Though it features just two tracks, “The Killing Fields” single is an impressive effort. The title track kicks things off with plenty of speed, power, and aggression. While the song has some twists and turns throughout it, much of its runtime is spent moving at full speed and thrashing everything in its path. The riffs may be somewhat standard, but they do feel more inspired than most other thrash these days. The verses in this song sync up the vocals with the riff that accompanies them, and this makes these sections especially potent, though the entire track is an immense thrasher.   

The other song on this release, “Grendel”, feels a little bit more calculated. While it also can reach some impressive speeds, the first minute or so of the song is spent on slower, headbanging-inducing riffs that incorporate plenty of trills before launching into huge power chords. Later in the track, the band makes use of very twisted leads underneath the vocals, which helps to keep things interesting. Though “The Killing Fields” comes out firing on all cylinders, it is actually “Grendel” that leaves the bigger impact. Perhaps more importantly, however, this single forges a much more positive impression of the band than their already solid demo. If Abraxxas could put together a full-length of this quality, they’d shoot to the top of the modern Australian thrash scene alongside Harlott.  

Be sure to check out and like Abraxxas on Facebook!

Highlights

"The Killing Fields"

"Grendel"

Final Rating

3.9/5 or 78%. 

Written by Scott 

Stratovarius – Eternal

Stratovarius is by far the most reliable power metal band in recent years. Almost like clockwork, every 2 years since 2009, the band has released a new record, which manages to make subtle changes to the band’s overall sound, while still sounding definitively like Stratovarius. “Eternal” marks the fourth such effort. Interestingly, this album’s unique identifier is that is almost shows the band going back to the sound they became famous for. Many songs on this record are reminiscent of albums like “Fourth Dimension” and “Episode”; in other words, there is plenty of high-speed, blazing power metal driven by eccentric keyboards and large amounts of double bass. This is no more evident than on the opening song, “My Eternal Dream”, which kicks things off with triumphant fanfare from keyboardist Jens Johansson. This song also shows that lead vocalist Timo Kotipelto has not lost a step. His voice soars with ease, and while he may not go after some of the high notes he did earlier in his career, he knows how to work within his range (which is still of impressive width).

Though quite a few songs also display this tendency towards old-school European power metal, the band does manage to mix things up a little bit. “Shine In The Dark” is the prototypical Stratovarius single, not dissimilar from “Unbreakable” and “Darkest Hours” before it. As always, this means a song with a chorus that transcends catchy, an almost bouncy beat throughout, and a very upbeat feeling. Another highlight is the sole composition from bass player Lauri Porra: “Lost Without A Trace”. This song is a little bit darker, alternating between cleaner sections in the verses, and heavier sections in the rest of the song. Once again though, it is Kotipelto’s voice that steals the spotlight.

Aside from these songs, another track of note is the nearly-12 minute closer “The Lost Saga”. The band’s previous epic, “Elysium”, is without a doubt one of the best songs they’ve ever written. While “The Lost Saga” doesn’t quite stack up, it is quite worthy of being called epic. The song starts off slow, but once the band comes in, guitarist Matias Kupiainen hits you with one of the all-time great Stratovarius riffs. It almost reminds me of the riffs from the early Metallica records, simply because of how classic it is. As the track progresses, the band continues to deliver largely the same things they have been providing earlier in the album, culminating in an epic slow section not unlike the grand finale to “Elysium”. As great as “The Lost Saga” is, the band easily could have cut off the first or so minute as well as the last one, neither of which feature substantial musical contributions relative to the rest of the track. Nevertheless, these are small complaints on an otherwise stellar song. 

In terms of disappointments, “Eternal” has few. The only slight letdown is that the Jens Johansson-penned tracks are not quite up to par this time. On the previous two albums, songs like “The Game Never Ends” and “Dragons” were easily among the highlights. This time around, “Man In The Mirror” is a very serviceable song that fits in with the rest of the record, while “Fire In Your Eyes” is a bit of a weaker ballad-esque song. But this is part of what makes Stratovarius great; on “Elysium”, Lauri Porra’s song was easily my least favourite, while on “Nemesis” and “Eternal”, his contribution to each record were amongst the best. The variability in writing shows that everyone in the band is a good songwriter. Likewise, Kupiainen and Kotipelto/Liimatainen have their share of hits and more standard songs (but these two songwriting groups tend to write more of the material, so there’s usually a good share of winners and more predictable songs on each album). Ultimately, however, all of these guys have a perfect understanding of Stratovarius’ sound and what makes it so great. Sometimes they write a better song than others, but they never miss the mark completely, and even an average Stratovarius song exceeds what many other bands are doing. “Eternal” may be the weakest of the latest 3 records (though I like it more than “Polaris”), but it once again shows a fresh take on a familiar sound, and that’s more than enough to keep it in regular rotation!

Be sure to check out and like Stratovarius on Facebook!

Highlights

"My Eternal Dream"

"Shine In The Dark"

"Lost Without A Trace"

"In My Line of Work"

"The Lost Saga"

Final Rating

4.6/5 or 92%. 

Written by Scott