It’s been a long time since I caught up with this band, their debut in fact, and as the album title suggests, this is now album number 4. Oh how the time flies, but seriously, I was intrigued by the progression of this group, I loved their debut, a similar slap in the face of Slayer at that time and I have long been a fan of Spice’s vocals (ex-Spiritual Beggars).
The opening track really doesn’t do the album justice, so first off I implore you to delve further into this release if you like to skip tracks etc. ‘Asphalt and Suicide’ begins and combines the Slayer and Megadeth influences as most commonly associated with this band but this actually remind me of albums 2 and 3 from Spice’s former band. The melodic tone mixes perfectly with some heavy thrash weaponry, the transition being perfect and seamless, the execution, very rewarding. The catchy numbers continue with ‘I Sold My Soul (For Your Dream)’, trippy, thrashy and oh so pleasing. ‘One Man Army’ gives more aggro and speed to the release. A tirade of palm work, that later combines with those great melodic Spiritual Beggar-isms I seem to mention all the time in this review, that insatiable groove.
The long 13-plus minute track ‘The Silent Serenade’ is cool, the temp, the ambience changes a few times, although it could be shorter with as on a couple of periods through this song, I find it pretty non-plus and wasteful. That said, it’s no slouch. The final couple of tracks ensure that you are right at home with this album, both ‘Dusk’ and ‘Allergic to Life’ combines everything Kayser have given previously on this release and end of two very positive high notes. Although, I will point out, I never found any low points on this effort, but it did take a few listens to finally be as one with the release.
Overall, its more expansive than my previous encounters with this band, I hope there’s some touring in support of the album, some of this material will really work well live. As for the release, Spice always had and currently has a cool level of quality in his voice and Kayser have a knack for combining a couple of sub-genres/styles to be as one rather effortlessly.
(7.5/10 Paul Maddison)
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