Review Summary: What Artillery have done in 2018 is nothing short of fantastic.
How does one personify fear? In the tumultuous times in which we find ourselves presently, fear is an ongoing crisis, a manifestation of the amalgamation of thoughts and ideas taken from reality, molded into a separate entity for each unique individual. So, if asked to describe it, how would one tackle the idea of ‘the face of fear?’
Whether intentional or not, the aptly titled new album from Artillery finds itself released during one of the more contentious times in recent history, and there’s one hanging theme, whether people want to admit it or not: fear. So, take these thoughts, whatever may be bringing them on, whatever may be harboring them, and blast them up to 11. Thus begins
The Face of Fear: frantically pummeling percussion and neck snapping riffs open the album, but not as a straight forward thrasher as one might expect. The cacophonous nature once the vocals kick in serves a very distinct purpose: it keeps the listener on their toes, contemplative, unsure of the direction, before coalescing into one monster thrash fest for the chorus, an opportunity for the band to unite. Sonically engaging and lyrically thought provoking (
on the crimson skies/our hopes and dreams they die/this reality/why can’t we see), it contains the quintessential traits of a stellar opener and promises great things going forward.
New Rage lulls us into believing Artillery has hit us with a soft acoustic number before transitioning perfectly into a riff to strengthen the neck muscles, relying heavily on the bass to keep the groove moving forward, while vocalist Michael Dahl flexes his chords right from the get go, admonishing an unnamed entity, calling out
curse me now/spit on my name/you shall see/what soon will be in our opening moments, later spewing venom pre and post chorus:
I take such pity/you are a joke…/now you must go/no sorry for you/goodbye and farewell/bless me by being gone. Clearly having been vilified by this unnamed being, Dahl’s perfect inflection changes, coupled with the simple, yet menacingly effective groove, create a perfect storm of rage; he starts off quiet, gradually the lyrics take a harsher tone, and then vocals over the double bass percussive assault nails us at the end to ram the point home that he is pissed, and he’s done.
What makes the two above tracks, and really most of the album as a whole, such a success is that everything seems to serve a distinct purpose; the subtle change in the speed of the main riffs playing off the intensity of Dahl’s vocals and lyrics as
Sworn Utopia comes to a close, the standalone vocal moments between riffs on
Through the Ages of Atrocity, highlighting the lyricism delving into fear (
running on fumes of fear/voices in your ears), the tempo downshift at the chorus, perhaps implying the exhaustion felt after one runs exclusively on fear, each of these exemplifies the musical prowess of the band and serve to make each track a unique journey in its own right.
Unfortunately, despite the praise that the band unquestionably deserves on this album, not all is perfect in the world of Artillery; most notable are tracks
Under Water,
Doctor Evil, and
Thirst for the Worst. While not one of these tracks can be considered bad in any real capacity, each one has its downfalls, which just doesn’t match the remainder of the album in its overall quality.
Under Water is a simple instrumental track, foreboding in its tone and eerie to boot, that sounds incredibly reminiscent of the music on
The End, of the 2005 Roadrunner United compilation album. Most listeners will probably not make that distinction, and feeling that way has nothing to do with why it might be deemed a lesser track; to be perfectly honest, this track would make a stellar intro or outro track; its problem lies in its placement on the album, smack dab in between one of the stronger tracks,
Pain, and a thrash fest monster known as
Preaching to the Converted.
Doctor Evil is a rerecorded track from an older album of theirs, and is probably the worst track on the album, sadly also finding itself the final track. Lyrically it’s just so cheesy, almost like it was meant to describe a James Bond villain or even worse…the Dr. Evil most people know in pop culture. Joking aside, though musically tight, lyrically it’s hard to not laugh at occasion, so this one ends the album on kind of a dud note. They can be forgiven, though. And finally, though not a subpar track in most capacities, lyrically
Thirst for the Worst might be…the worst (ba-dum tis). No ***, the chorus goes as follows:
we drink forever/we eat and swallow/we drink holy water/we have thirst for the worst. No, they aren’t the worst lyrics you’ve ever read, but this album is full of dynamite lyricism (
Sworn Utopia being their best) so something as awful as the above is just unacceptable, especially given that musically and vocally, once again, the track is top notch.
Despite ***ting on those three tracks, what Artillery have done in 2018 is nothing short of fantastic; in a genre that lacks the popularity of days past, and thus is only really known for the Big 4 and a scattering of others (for the casual listener), to hear the continuing excellence of thrash put to disc in 2018 is incredibly refreshing. Vocally stellar, musically complex, and lyrically thought provoking, Artillery’s contribution to music this year should be lauded; it is easily among the best albums of the year and continue to demonstrate that not only is the genre not dead, but that it’s not even ***ing close. If the group can churn out albums like this for the next few years, maybe, just maybe, they’ll be one of those names that casual listeners turn to when they want thrash. If not, their loss: Artillery IS among the top thrash artists on the planet, and
The Face of Fear has raised the bar for other acts, so they best take note.
