Review Summary: A fast paced adrenaline ride of a thrash album.
If I had opportunity to start a band and one that truly epitomises everything that I love and appreciate in rock and metal I would have the following prerequisites.
First and foremost, it would have to be a thrash metal band and one that shreds at no less than four million miles per hour and one with an attitude akin to some of the greatest punk rock acts. I would also require someone with the technical prowess of Dave Mustaine on guitar and someone with the vocal style that matches the best of the 80’s and 90’s thrash metallers. Now - Throw all of that into the smelting pot with some staccato death metal riffing and some chest pounding drum tracks and you would have my thrash/death/punk, chef-d'oeuvre, or in other words – Black Fast.
Black Fast are from St. Louis, Missouri and were formed back in 2010 after guitarists Aaron Akin and Trevor Johanson met at a gas station in Edwardsville, Illinois.
Spectre of Ruin is the bands third album and follows on from 2013’s Starving out the Light & 2015’s Terms of Surrender. Both these albums were technically brilliant and both albums received positive reviews.
The band have an extreme, tech thrash metal style and are incredibly relentless. They’re fast thrash metal – very fast.
Their riffs have always had the intricacy not dissimilar to bands such as Megadeth or DragonForce and they are undisputed masters of their craft.
Their music is very technical and for that very reason, never feels stale or unnecessary. The solos are always blistering and it’s evident that both guitarist have studied music on an academic level.
The bands previous releases were incredible and if you haven’t heard them already for each day that passes somewhere in the world a fairy will die.
Now onto Spectre of Ruins.
It’s a ferocious, fast paced adrenaline ride of a thrash album and it will sink its teeth into you while performing a 43-minute death roll and it’s not going to let go.
As much as I appreciate this album – and I really do - it does feel like a safe release for them and a slight step backwards. On the surface it’s a headbangers delight and it’s only once you get a few songs in that the production of the album leaves you asking the question – Is that double bass ever going to let up? I’m also in two minds as to whether it’s detrimental to the overall quality of this album.
Spectre of Ruins does suffer from more of a muddier sound than what we are accustomed to with the bands previous outings. The razor sharp, cutting guitar tones seem a thing of the past and the the bass guitar doesn’t ever have a moment to shine through to match the complexities of their sound.
The reason both previous albums felt special to me was the variation in feel that each song offered, the breaks mid song for quirky tempo changes and the variation in guitar riffs – it kept things exciting and unpredictable. Spectre of Ruins however has very few of those key elements and it’s detrimental to how I felt coming away from this album.
Aaron Akins vocals are once again on point with his furious, rasping vocal style and almost feels as though he is dictating to a generation that this is his genre of extreme metal and this is how it should be done.
I played though the album several times and interestingly each time I was able to draw something new from each listen.
This isn’t an album you will take to immediately and this is partly due to the aforementioned double bass and the similarities in the song structures. With that being said it never becomes dull and I never found myself losing interest.
Standout moments on this album are Cloak of Lies, Phantom I Am and Famine Angel and as a collective an addictive and enjoyable listen.
This album more than serves its purpose as a great thrash metal album and I’d encourage you to go and have a listen as I promise you, you won’t regret it!
