November 2020 Feature Release - The Pit Edition

It's now November 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. We're really looking forward to hearing your thoughts on our chosen releases so don't be shy.

This month's feature release for The Pit is the brand new sixth album from California's new school thrash metal leaders Warbringer entitled "Weapons of Tomorrow".  

https://metal.academy/releases/19653

Review completed and I have to confess I approached the album with a bit of trepidation but ended up pleasantly surprised.  Full of Demolition Hammer influence I enjoyed most of what I heard even though there's a couple of improvements that need to be made to the lyrical quality and the song writing edge also.  Some mighty riffage going on for sure and the band's style of no frills thrash metal certainly shines through the most but there are plenty of occasions when they expand their capabilities to deliver more lengthy and yet still memorable tracks, beyond just simple hi-octane delivery.

3/5

I already did a review of this record so here's a modified, cliff notes version:

Thrash metal has been dealing with an identity crisis for some time now, and Warbringer are near the forefront of this. They have a sound that is undeniably 1980s thrash, but they do nothing with it. Every riff, every solo, and every lyrical theme has been beaten to death by the bands they are attempting to imitate, to the point where they don't even bother trying to cover it up on "Power Unsurpassed"!

The band also can't figure out how to mix a bass guitar properly, which makes these songs feel really long and boring and the guitars are not doing enough heavy lifting to compensate. If I want to hear modern thrash music done well, I will stick with Testament, Kreator and Havok. Hell, even Anthrax's 2016 album For All Kings was a step up. It will be far more enjoyable that listening to Peace Sells...But Who's Buying for the eight-hundredth time.

6/10

I have to admit that I quite enjoyed "Weapons Of Tomorrow". It sees the band trying quite hard to keep enough variety in play so as not to sound completely generic & this results in a good mix of brutality & melody. There's a whole tonne of influences going on here. From the classic thrash end of the spectrum there's definitely a fair amount of Exodus worship going on & the slower, darker passages seem to draw influence from "Seasons In The Abyss"-era Slayer at times but there's also a consistent melodeath feel going on that reminds me of At The Gates or even Kreator's last couple of albums which often gave a passing glance to the Swedes in a similar way. Warbringer also have a shot at fully-fledged black metal & your classic old-school Swedish death metal sound at various points across the tracklisting so it's clear that they have a rounded taste in extreme metal. Just check out the clear ode to Bathory at the four & a half minute mark in "Heart of Darkness" for example.

As Vinny mentioned, John Kevill's nasty vocal delivery is definitely similar to Demolition Hammer's Steve Reynolds (& At The Gates' Tomas Lindberg to an extent) which can't be a bad thing & he gives it absolutely everything he's got at all times. The lead guitar work is sensational & is a real highlight of the album in my opinion. The production is excellent & compliments the natural energy of the song-writing. I can't say I agree with saxy's statement about the bass guitar being hard to pick up. I can hear it pretty comfortably throughout so maybe it's to do with our listening devices of choice. There are a couple of tracks that don't do much for me though (see chuggy thrasher "The Black Hand Reaches Out" & the epic power metal influenced "Glorious End") & these lapses generally line up with the moments that drummer Carlos Cruz goes for bouncier & more accessible beats over mid-paced chuggy riffs. I'd much prefer to be flayed by light-speed tremolo riffage & a machine gun of double kick personally (see album highlight "Unraveling" for example) but this is not really a flaw but a matter of personal taste.

Overall I find "Weapons Of Tomorrow" to be an enjoyable if inessential thrash metal release that eclipses most of the other new school thrash exponents out there pretty comfortably through pure class. It's beautifully executed & hints at some real potential but doesn't quite deliver as consistently as our 80's faves.

3.5/5