Bay Area thrash from Australia? That makes perfect sense really when you think about it considering the Aussies are surrounded by beautiful beaches. These kids hooked up in 2004 and with three albums now under their belt you’d really expect them to have honed in their craft and found their own style but I’m just not feeling this album as much as I should. While I’m unfamiliar with this band a trip to their MySpace informs me that their origins lie within death metal though these dead leaves have been shed revealing a style that is pure worship to the Bay Area sound.
The album gets off to a strong start with ‘No News, Ain’t Good News’ which comes hurtling at you with a riff that could easily have been lifted from Testaments ‘The Legacy’ album. Instantly you get a feel for what the band are all about in the lyrical context; this is all fairly political stuff with much anger directed at both the media and the government with an anti-Capitalist stance that really comes across on songs like ‘Affluenza.’ I have to wonder if the band swallowed the entire Slayer back catalogue for breakfast while writing this album though, as tracks like ‘Mother Of Harlots’ certainly owe an awful lot to Hanneman and co. while ‘Celebrity, Judge and the Sinners pt. 3’ again has that Reign In Blood pacing and Tom Araya yell down to a tee.
There are some catchy tunes here such as ‘Wasting Power’ which takes us in with a melodic Eastern sounding bit of guitar work, although the Mustaine-esque snarl really doesn’t quite work for me and sounds rather uncomfortable in the mix. The lead guitar work on the whole is quite enticing, while the rhythm section is tight and solid but it really is lacking something. Were these a band just starting out then I’d be a lot kinder and say it’s a solid debut that shows promise, but by the third album I’d expect a lot more from them. Their hearts are clearly in what they are doing and there is plenty of fire in their bellies and anger pumping through their veins, but that just isn’t enough to make me want to listen to a band if the rest isn’t there. This still reeks of a band that are still finding their feet, and perhaps when they do find them they will prove me wrong. Until then, I’m off to listen to Show No Mercy.
http://www.graveforsaken.com/
http:/www.myspace.com/graveforsaken
