Ancestor dare to stand in front of a sea of overproduced and over scrutinized bands and say, “it doesn’t have to be this way; remember the glory days of thrash metal?
” And I know that if I looked up other reviews of this you’ll see them write ‘elements of Slayer or early Metallica’ but to me, in my own humble opinion which has been growing in the ego of late, it says early Kreator. And we can never have enough of early Kreator.
The song structures are reasonably varied in this release, but I find some of the tracks start to bleed into each other. The choruses are always treated as a time to yell the title of the track over and over, which I would like to see shaken up in future releases. The performance is as tight as they come, but like Slayer, the solos could do with a bit of a shine.
An interesting choice can be found in the guitars having a lot less gain that you would be used to – something of a Psycroptic feel – but in the thrash metal, it’s an interesting choice. There are some terrific elements in there, particularly the riffs and choices in the drums, but I do feel that the production lets it down, mainly because it is only the packaging that would lead you to believe that this album was released in 2018.
As a first album release, it’s a solid effort and an interesting exploration of the glory days of thrash metal. Suitable for those who on weekends raise a flag of hate in their front yard.
Release Year: 2018
Label: Awakening Records
Category: Album
Country: China
Reviewed by Liam Frost-Camilleri
