Was anyone else rather excited when Forbidden reformed in 2009? I know I was especially when they played London and given that they played all my favourites from Twisted Into Form and Forbidden Evil I for one was not disappointed. Then came the news that they would be recording a new album and at first my thoughts were Bring It On…and then reality set in. Let’s face it, Distortion and Green from the 90’s were both a bit “meh” to coin the catchphrase of today’s apathetic youth, and comeback albums are rarely much to shout home about. I’m aware that some disagree with my opinion that once great bands like Kreator and Exodus are now pushing out tired modern-sounding trash (sic) and most bands of this style only have the capacity for 2, 3 max truly decent albums before they run out of steam and the ideas run dry. So my enthusiasm turned to scepticism and frankly I wasn’t expecting very much. Still, if getting in the studio makes a bunch of 40-something blokes feel young and energised again then who am I to fault them?
So the moment of truth then as I sit on the train with my headphones in and hit the play button and try to approach this album with an open mind despite the fact that I’m not actually looking forward to this moment all that much…it doesn’t take very long before I am ready to eat my words, alphas and omegas notwithstanding and oh my how wrong could I have been? The album marches in, drums setting the pace as the careful guitar melody of opener ‘Alpha Century’ lends a patriotic sense of spectacle building a certain amount of suspense before ‘Forsaken At The Gates’ begins instantly thrashing out with a killer riff and gives the eardrums a thorough pounding. Russ Anderson bellows out like he truly means it on lines such as “we crush the weak” and makes you believe him too. The vocals are impressive as ever and has always been one of my favourite thrash vocalists – he may have that trademark “girlfriend kneed me in the knackers” yowl, but he can sound deep and belt out with a combination of aggression and power with his clean but gravely tones. He sounds fantastic as he lets his mature croon come across on the excellent ‘Dragging My Casket.’ There’s some real smooth guitar work on this one and is heavily melodic – it reminds me very much of Testament’s ‘The Ballad’ and is very much in that sort of vein.
‘Adapt Or Die’ gives you no ultimatum , racing ahead relentlessly while demonstrating some tasty licks along the way. ‘Swine’ is a particular highlight on this album, with its sinuous, slow paced melody that’s heavy on the atmosphere. It is these atmospheric touches that really set them apart from many of the thrash herd and shows they really haven’t lost it. Tracks like ‘Hopenosis’ have that feel of the timeless classic – it sounds old school and yet somehow upto date, yet there are no traces that they have tried to incorporate that modern thrash style that so vexes me. It’s not the work of a band trying to be down with the kids, but rather it’s a mature thrash album with plenty of melody and atmosphere and a genuine touch of class of which the only other example I can think of in recent years would be Heathen’s comeback album earlier in 2010. I can find nothing to dislike about this album, and I can’t see any fan of Forbidden being disappointed.
http://www.myspace.com/forbiddenofficial
