Review Summary: ?Old School Thrash With Modern Day Production.
Back in 1986, or even that decade, thrash bands could be found in bountiful amounts. Now in the second decade of the millennia, it is becoming increasingly difficult to find fresh thrash metal bands and instead we find ourselves leaning on the oldies to deliver our prescriptions of thrash. At this moment in time Metallica and Slayer's new music have just been sighted on the radar, Megadeth’s last effort was hard rock, Anthrax and Kreator are on the rise but bands like Exodus, Destruction and Testament are still aren’t getting the deserved recognition they merit. With exceptions of Evile and Sylosis there aren’t many thrash bands left that deliver something refreshing to the scene. Since 2010 Reign Of Fury have been lurking in the West Midlands, UK underground scene: 1 EP and 1 LP World Detonation later with appearances in Bloodstock Festival and headlining the charity ‘Headbanger’s Ball’s’ Tour the band are finally ready to unleash themselves out of the underground and into the mainstream.
The first thing that is clear in Death Be Thy Shepherd is that Reign Of Fury continue to create long songs. This can be a risky move, especially if the start and finishing tracks of the album are the longest. They however know the risks and manage to capture the audience’s immediate attention in opener Faustian Mastery. Its textbook thrash metal: signature riff, accessible chorus with punting backing vocals and guitarists that know the scale of a guitar as well as the track list to ‘Reign In Blood’. The nearly equally long closing song Death Be Thy Shepherd concludes the new confidence Reign Of Fury have found. The transcendent intro and interludes shift your focus back and forth from the juxtaposing frantic riffs and growls. Reign Of Fury have definitely mastered the art of capturing interest in long songs.
Death Be Thy Shepherd is a remarkably textured album. They manage to harness the raw ferocity with ecliptic fashion in tracks such as Harbinger Of Decay and Hypnotize The Masses. The former utilizes Bison Steed’s Belladona-esque vocal range in front of some sharp stabbing riffs and a shroud of harmonies while the latter’s shivering riffs contrast the waterfall of melodies against the anthemic chorus that will undoubtedly catch a live crowd by the head and force them to bang it. Guitar licks spiral off the explosive Sorrow Made Flesh making it the fastest track on the album and has a distinct extremity to it that bands such as Kreator where innovators of.
There are obvious inspirations from Thrash’s forefathers Metallica in the record; sometimes a little too much. Ballad All Is Lost is reminiscent of Fade to Black as the rhythm drifts from heavy/light passages however the precise rolling drums are most highlighted within this song than any other. Whilst All Is Lost Does slacken the overall momentum of the song, Reign Of Fury continue their literal reign of fury with a new addition of death metal growls and murmuring bass to create a dystopian sound in tracks such as Gates Of Sanity. This resonates throughout the album to symbolize their new-found aggression and confidence.
