Tuesday, April 12, 2011

HAVOK- Time is Up CD review


HAVOK- Time is Up CD
Candlelight Records
Genre: Thrash
Rating: 5/5

If you start out as part of a musical fad it's hard work to stay relevant after it is over, in this case the Thrash Revival of the 2000s. When this Denver band released their first demo in 2005 the Thrash Revival aka: the return of old school thrash, waters were merely simmering. By the time they finally got a proper debut full length out, Burn in 2009, the excitement surrounding the genre's revivalist feeling was already in decline. Burn was not a bad release in that it was not any different from every other 80's thrash riff tribute band. The plus side was that the band had one high top sneaker ed foot planted firmly in the punk/speed metal realm, the other was in (choose one: Dave Mustaine's basement, Kerry King's guitar case or Paul Baloff's grave.) So now it's 2011 and with most of the revival bands already boasting a catalog of releases, or have simply disapeared, here we have HAVOK's sophmore effort. Thanks to the production job by James Murphy Time is Up doesn't sound like it was recorded by a bunch of revivalists at all in fact it's more like it came from hardened thrash vets. Although they still lack an identity of their own this release contains every facet of thrash-o-rama that only a jaded hack would not love.

HAVOK send a message early with opener "Prepare for Attack" that this is going to be a no frills and no bullshit release. The song rips through you like a chainsaw. "No Amnesty" is another favorite since it reminds me of the old days when kids actually slam danced. Hell I'm ready to get into a pit because the textbook riffage by Reece Scruggs and David Sanchez is addictive plus the rhythm section pounds you to mince meat. Add to that Sanchez’s vocals are of a classic 80's variety that not only remind you of past greats but also invite you to the future. Speaking of remenising Sanchez pulls off a fairly decent Tom Araya style scream on “D.O.A.” which deserves a salute. Overall Time is Up is a classic Thrash release, period. Anyone who would come out against that fact has an obvious bias towards the genre which should discredit them immediately. People need to be reminded that Metal is recyclible. Sure we can all wipe the dust off of our classic and not so classic 80's Thrash records but in most cases we'll never see those bands again live. Here's another revelation, people like being reminded of the good old times. So here we have HAVOK who were not handed the baton but simply took it and ran.

Label: http://www.candlelightrecords.com


Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/havok


No comments:

Post a Comment