Nothing like a good bit of mystery – the bio for this band states that they formed from the ashes of two UK thrash bands, however appear to be keeping very hushed about which bands the members were previously in. Oh well. Anyway, this three-track demo gives the listener an honest glimpse into what Past The Fall are all about. There are no pretentions here and not much in the ways of image – just three regular guys bashing out straightforward metal the way it was meant to be played.
‘Behind The Lies’ strikes out as heavy as a ten ton hammer and packs some real meaty riffs that make the head want to bang. ‘Paydirt’ has a rather catchy melody, and at one point this breaks in to a briefly atmospheric interlude which demonstrates some warm, Spanish sounding guitars. There’s an underlying groove to these tunes that makes them sound hugely moshable, and mixes in a modern thrash vibe with ‘Injustice’ kicking in with a particularly thrashy rhythm. The vocals are unpolished and aggressive – nothing outstanding but they do the job and due to the two dimensional application I do find them to grate on me after the first couple of tracks.
Of course if it’s innovation you’re looking for you will find yourself rather disappointed, but if dirty, groove-heavy modern thrash is what you like then this is worth checking out.
http://www.myspace.com/pastthefall
