January 2020 Feature Release - The Pit Edition

Daniel
Daniel
The Fallen The Horde The North The Pit
First Post January 01, 2020 07:52 AM
Post #1777

The start of the New Year is upon us which of course means that we'll be nominating a brand new monthly feature release for each clan. This essentially means that we're asking you to rate, review & discuss our chosen features for no other reason than because we enjoy the process & banter. Ben & I will certainly be contributing & we look forward to hearing your thoughts too.    

This month's feature release for The Pit is 1990's third album from Danish thrash metallers Artillery entitled "By Inheritance." I've often found people's opinions to vary pretty drastically on this one with most people claiming it as God's gift to thrash but many others giving it a firm meh. We'd like to hear your opinions on this one.




Xephyr
Xephyr
The Guardians The Infinite The North
January 24, 2020 10:09 PM
Post #2040
This one seriously surprised me Daniel, I don't go into classic Thrash releasing expecting a whole lot but this one kind of blew me away. I'm not going to say it's a gift from God but it certainly meshes a lot of different ideas and sounds into a classic but extended Thrash format that I ended up really, really enjoying. The Thrash aggression is there and although the speed of the album is toned down a bit it's replaced by traditional Heavy Metal and Speed/Power Metal influences to make a very, very unique package. The riffs are stellar and are certainly heavy enough for me, especially in the final track. I invested the entire time and every song has something great about it, so I'll definitely be coming back to this one in the near future. 
Daniel
Daniel
The Fallen The Horde The North The Pit
January 25, 2020 01:26 AM
Post #2046

Excellent! I'm very pleased that the monthly feature release concept is working & people are discovering cool sounds they may have previously overlooked because this was always the intention.

Daniel
Daniel
The Fallen The Horde The North The Pit
March 01, 2020 12:04 PM
Post #2402

I finally got around to revisiting "By Inheritance" over the weekend &, while I quite like it, I have to say that I don't share the immense adoration that many thrash fans do for it. I think it's simply a little too melodic & (at times) light-weight for my personal tastes. Still a decent record but I don't consider it to be the classic that most seem to.

3.5/5

Tymell
Tymell
The Fallen The Guardians The Pit
March 01, 2020 02:47 PM
Post #2405

I've been thinking of revisiting it lately too. I think my ratings of that (and maybe Terror Squad too) were a bit influenced by others at the time.

Daniel
Daniel
The Fallen The Horde The North The Pit
March 01, 2020 06:53 PM
Post #2406

To be fair Tymell, I think it's pretty easy to be influenced by the sheer class & ambition of a record like "By Inheritance" as it's certainly quite an achievement from an artistic & technical point of view. But the question I had to ask myself is whether I actually enjoyed listening to it as much as a more raw & intense thrash release & the answer ended up being a recounding no. To my ears it sounds like the melodeath of thrash i.e. a subgenre that I certainly appreciate but rarely hold up on a pedestal when comparing it to other forms of death metal.

Shadowdoom9 (Andi)
Shadowdoom9 (Andi)
The Gateway The Infinite The Revolution The Sphere
March 03, 2020 01:04 AM
Post #2423

It's not January anymore, but I will still summarize my review here:

There's one exciting album that's so close to the thrash metal throne that it can sit right next to Metallica and Slayer. And that is...Artillery's By Inheritance! It has impressive technicality along with more accessibility and theatrical compositions. Many songs in the album encourage listeners to headbang to the excellent composition without leaving their neck strained (though it's a little close) and replay their greater catchy riffs so many times. Soft verses make sharp turns into heavy choruses. And the vocals stay in a balance of melody and high screaming. Not to mention those splintering frets! Artillery can have as much fun as they please, but not in ways to throw people off, and it sounds like most of their thrash metal fun is great shape. By Inheritance is a priceless thrash metal recommendation for many metalheads out there.