Having released a slew of demos in the 80s, Outrage took a lengthy break before re-emerging in 2004. Since then, they’ve been busy recording more or less once album each year, with Conspirator being the fifth full-length to their name. You’d think working at such great speed that they would have run out of steam but amazingly not and this album is outrageously (ha) long at 73 minutes. Come on, just because you can fill up a disc with that much music it doesn’t mean you HAVE to, and most of the time I subscribe to the belief that less is more. The albums that make the very biggest impression on me are often those that are 40 or so minutes where every song is killer and you’re left wanting more, as opposed to growing tired half way through and wondering when it’s all going to end.
While this definitely has the spirit of old school thrash metal, it’s far from being your typical cookie-cutter Slayer clone. There’s a bit of atmosphere and flair to the music and an interesting blend of styles. The first half of the album seems a bit more straight forward with tracks such as ‘Release (In Thousand Days)’ having some evil sounding deathly downtuned guitars that really thrash out while the vocals are a mean and ugly growl. It has that typical Germanic rawness that leans into death and even black metal turf at times.
There’s a rollicking groove to ‘Of Things That Never Were’ which has a light hearted and fun rock ‘n’ roll vibe to it, and ‘Desert City Allegory’ has a slow, winding melody that slithers along with an Eastern warmth. The second half of the album seems to incorporate a rockier influence, which is quite charming and works very well. I love the riff on ‘The Line I Did Not Draw’ – the rocking rhythm reminds me a lot of Queens Of The Stone Age and makes me think this band don’t take themselves too seriously. The introduction to ‘Cold Spots’ has kind of a Motley Crue sleaziness which sucks you in and then slaps you with a rather cheeky little riff; the drums patter away and everything bounces along. It’s fun and rather addictive- I have to wonder at one point if this is a cover, however according to the booklet it is not.
Outrage certainly have the right energy flowing through the music here, especially on tracks like ‘The Sentence Complete’ which marches with intent. The bass/drum combo on this one feels a bit Manowar and can imagine the rawk godz posing in their leather clad glory although don’t let it put you off. There is plenty on this album to enjoy and I particularly find the mix of styles works very well and keeps things interesting. The big problem I do have is that it is just too long for it’s own good; thrash isn’t the sort of style that invites me to lay back and really get drawn into an album to think deeply about for 73 minutes – it’s more something you want to really knock you over instantly and leave you wondering what the fuck just happened? Still, it’s solid enough.
http://www.myspace.com/outragepforzheim
