Noire - Where Death Keeps (drums only)

Noire - Dark Reverence (drums only)

 Thrash metal has come to be many things to many different people. If early Voivod or Vektor be one's poison, then a world of bizarre Sci-fi phenomena is the ultimate conclusion, while the blackened corridors of early Bathory and Slayer will take one down the creepy world of the occult. However, it is arguable that the purest and roots-based mode of thrash is one that veers closer to its punk roots where real life events, politics and personal struggles tend to be the preferred subject of discussion, hence the later coined "green" strain of the sub-genre. The only catch to taking this route is the common accusation that this approach tended to accompany a drier, less extravagant musical approach as typified in the early 90s thrash at half-speed sound of "Impact Is Imminent" and 'The American Way". But when social critique can be merged with a violent, old school thrash style presented in a new an interesting way, these are the makings of a new classic.

If there is a place where presenting an aggressive style in a new and intricate way, Canada would seem to be the likely place given its recent history of successful experiments in progressive music. However, most historic examples of merging progressive methods with thrash in Canada have been extremely hit or miss, taking Annihilator as the most prominent example. But by a rather interesting turn of events, a new wind has begun to blow, and its name is Alphakill. Sporting a name that would indicate a nasty, hard-hitting approach not all that far removed from a lot of the newer red thrash outfits, they've taken an approach that can be best described as a very happy medium between the punchy, straightforward approach of early Bay Area thrash with a less conventional approach to songwriting than even the typically adventurous later adherents to said sound in the later 80s like Death Angel and Heathen. All the best elements of Metallica, Exodus, Testament and several others have been distilled into a potent yet multifaceted wrecking machine dubbed "Unmitigated Disaster".

At first impression, this album comes off like orthodox early Metallica worship with maybe a hint of early Exodus, in no small part because of the constant barrage of riffs and fast paced drumming, not to mention a vocalist that sounds remarkably similar to a young James Hetfield meets a more nimble Chuck Billy. Fast paced excursions into the typical exploits of neck-breaking thrashing and crowd pleasing such as "Thrash Eternal" and "Becoming The Alpha" are steeped in lyrical cliche right out of the "Kill Em' All" and "Bonded By Blood", and the songs do tend to follow a similar riff template, though the amount of total musical content is a bit larger and more aggressive. But as things progress, a somewhat more contemporary character begins to develop, one that isn't completely oblivious to some changes in the metal scene that occurred during the early 90s and beyond. Indeed, one can't help but immediately identify a casual familiarity between the eerie intro of "The Age Of The Debt Slaves" and some of the spacey elements heard on Death's "Human", though a healthy bit of "Victims Of Deception" and "...And Justice For All" comes along for the ride to bolster the implicit grandiose feel of this 6-minute plus epic.

It's difficult to fully pin down one specific discipline from the mix going on here, though the influences tend to be far more green and red than black or gray. Lyrically, the multifaceted critique of a world plagued with social strife, manipulative politicians and natural disasters only occasionally gives way to the celebratory character of early Metallica and Tankard where simple booze and metal worship were sufficient, though the best word-based content found on here is reserved for "Let Me Die", casting a cold air of reality on the issue of pulling the plug in a manner rivaled only by the eerie music video of Metallica's "One". Similarly, the mix of restrained melody and unfettered chaos that dominates the title song "Unmitigated Disaster" is contrasted quite nicely by the methodical and straightforward speeder "Rebellion", both walking a delicate line between hitting the right hooks and avoiding being too conventional, yet the former hinting at the zenith of stylistic adventure and expansion of the early 90s while the latter sounds more along the lines of a plainer, mid-80s assault in the mold of "Bonded By Blood".

This band definitely chose an appropriate name because their debut album kills it from pretty much every possible angle. It manages to bridge the gap between the needed conservatism that goes with maintaining a pure thrashing sound, yet isn't satisfied to simply relive the mid 80s through the eyes of one singular scene or band. It's the sort of album that keeps finding new ways to surprise the listener even after receiving regular play for several weeks. Definitely keep an eye on Alphakill as they prepare to launch their beta opus.

Originally submitted to (www.metal-observer.com) on December 15, 2012.

Alphakill - Age of the debt slaves

Alphakill - Becoming the alpha

Alphakill - Corrupted masses

Alphakill - Let me die

Alphakill - Rebellion

Alphakill - Skull crushery

Alphakill - Threat from within

Evil Will Survive!   

If there’s one thing trad metal needs to have in order to be successful, it’s the rock n’ roll attitude. Whether a band exerts that attitude through their music or their image doesn’t matter, as long as it’s present. It’s pretty hard for any band to fail if they really put their all into playing their music, and that is inevitably the reason why Metal Vengeance is deserving of praise. Yes, it doesn’t always sound good, per se, but it never fails to keep you interested or entertained for the duration of the record. I liken it to bobbing for apples if you didn’t have any teeth. Sure, it’s really uncomfortable and awkward at times when you can’t exactly replicate what other people with teeth had done back in the day (Iron Maiden and Satan, to give a few easy examples) and you’re spilling water everywhere, but you’re having stupid fun the whole time and the rare occasion that you actually manage to pull out an apple is awe-inspiring.

What I meant behind that last analogy is that Evil Survives is sloppy as hell. The songwriting has all the coordination and subtlety of staggering drunk- everything on this album is in-your-face and everywhere at once. These guys jump from riff to riff almost suddenly, often throw choruses and solos out of nowhere, and have a vocalist that seems to be ad-libbing half the time. The bass twists and turns its way in and out of the forefront of the album in a stumbling, yet oddly interesting fashion. But none of that really matters in the long run, because, like the drunk, even though Evil Survives staggers about and often go off track and aren’t very graceful, they still have a purpose; they eventually wander home or find a taxi or something. Their songs actually have a destination- even though their delivery isn’t all that fantastic they still manage to get the point across. They manage to do so without blatantly plagiarizing any other band, either. Yes, the Maidenesque influences are still very present, but unlike most bands formed in the 21st century who play in this style, (I’m lookin’ at YOU White Wizzard) they don’t simply try to emulate this tried and true sound to the best of their ability, they actually expand on it, adding their own little spices and tinges.

I mentioned the vocalist in passing in that last paragraph, and I’d like to add a little more detail to what I said earlier, because the vocals on this album are indeed worthy of a review of their own. They’re frantic, aggressive, sometimes horribly tuneless and reminiscent of a 13-year-old metal fan singing along horribly to his favourite Maiden song, they’re friggin GREAT. Even though they’re not pitch-perfect in tone all the time (or almost any of the time for that matter) or have any sort of flow or grace, Karl Warkentin always seems to know exactly how he should sing to fit the current feel of the song. He’s got a great ear for the music and is really putting 110% into what he’s doing. He’s far from my favourite vocalist because it’s near IMPOSSIBLE to sing along to any of his vocal lines (you won’t hear me randomly bursting into a melody-deprived screeching of “CAN’T STOP…CAN’T STOP…THE VAAAAAMPIRE AMBUUUUUSHH” anytime soon) but he does have his moments, and when those moments occur, it’s fantastic. A random example of one of these moments off the top of my head would be the “whoa oh ohhhhh” section of the song “Metal” which is without question one of the highlights of the album. It's the first time the album really "clicks" after flailing around with the energetic opening track (Evil Will Survive) and the first half of the song.

Ah, but what would the realm of traditional metal be without its fair helping of cheese? Fear not, my friends, because this album has more cheese than a fucking Immortal video. While the crazy-ass falsettos that I should have mentioned in my previous paragraph certainly play a part in contributing to this ridiculous dairy factory, a lot of the overall cheese factor of this album draws from the lyrical themes, (in this day and age, it’s nearly impossible to write a song about vampires without it sounding really fucking ridiculous) the gratuitous amount of solos scattered throughout (solos aren’t cheesy by default, but the ones found on Metal Vengeance are. They’ve got too much widdly widdly widdly and not enough doo dee doo doo doo in them, y’know what I’m saying?) and the “happy” nature of the music. Even though there’s a lot of underlying grit in the guitars, the good ol’ galloping NWOBHM guitar leads make it really difficult to listen to some of these tracks without blushing just a little bit. This album is, in the vaguest sense of the term, a “guilty pleasure” of mine. I realize that there’s a lot of glaring flaws about the album that the band don’t care about enough to even ATTEMPT to hide, but I simply turn the other cheek and keep banging my head. Something about these songs just gives me that giddy feeling that makes me want to listen to it over and over again- I wasn’t quite sure how to describe it, until I looked at the album art for this release- it depicts a young, naïve boy being swept into the fantasy that is heavy metal. That may not be exactly what the image was trying to portray, but the image still shows what I mean: This album contains all the little elements that make this NWOBHM style magical. The goofy lyrics, the galloping riffs, the stylistically amorphous, charismatic vocalist, the fancy solos- it all just amounts to a delicious helping of SHIT THIS SHIT IS FUCKING AWESOME. They may not have the most monumental riffs or catchiest choruses and sometimes sound a little unsure of what they should be doing, but Evil Survives is metal to the fucking bone. Their music sweats pure steel from every single pore and listening to this album hearkens back to the good ol’ days, when you were a zit-faced cretin whose balls had yet to drop, listening to Number of the Beast or Master of Puppets or Painkiller for the first time, unaware of what lay ahead. Back when metal was a completely new world for you. This album recaptures that immaculate feeling that one gets from discovering something new and strange and wonderful, and even if it lacked everything else that made it great, I’d STILL highly recommend it for this reason. This isn’t essential, but makes a fantastic addition to any metal fan’s collection.

published by - RapeTheDead, October 10th, 2010 for Metal Archives

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