Watchtower - Energetic Disassembly (1985)^{Release ID: 4087}

This is one of the very earliest releases to contain such a progressive form of thrash metal. The drumming is impressive, the guitar leads and riffs are technically and musically challenging, and the bassist is doing some really interesting things throughout. The band deserves some credit for being a fair way ahead of their time.

Unfortunately, there are two things that stop this album from being a classic in my opinion. Firstly, the vocalist is not very good. His high-pitched style, while used a lot back in 70s and 80s heavy metal, just doesn't work very well with this style of music. It's very off putting and distracting, and I feel something a bit more aggressive and less showy would have made this sound very different indeed. Secondly the production is crappy. It's not often that the bassist can be heard far above the rhythm and lead guitars, but this is the case here. Some of these riffs deserve front row attention but they are left floundering behind the admittedly awesome bass work.

All up I'd say this is an important album, but probably not something everyone should run out and purchase without checking it out further.

I love this blend of progressive metal and thrashy technical speed metal. I can get the fun wackiness of prog and speed metal's eponymous aspect without having too much of either side. This album was made by an innovative group of talented musicians, wearing their sound with pride but not too much pride, and it's really impressive. Ladies and gentlemen, this is a serious start to the technical side of metal that we know today!

The bassist and guitarist work well like a duo, a possible inspiration for that kind of aspect in later bands. The thrash-like guitar riffing and bass tones fit like a glove, despite the difference in octave, and even more so in the interplay between searing leads and bass harmonies. I'm not super into Halford-like falsetto vocals so much right now, but the ones here have spot-on beauty. Barely any other vocal style can fit into this kind of album. And MAN, these are some mighty drum skills. I wish my family didn't give away an electronic drum kit I once had, so I can continue learning that instrument. You never have to rewind because all those instruments can be engraved in your mind.

The tracklisting is different in some editions, but for this one I'm reviewing, "Violent Change" starts off with a thrashy riff of violent energy. It's different from what you would expect in the mid-80s, with the drums and vocals sounding punky before rising close to classic heavy metal. It's insane how groundbreaking this album was when it was released in 1985, and you can understand the NWOBHM elements they've had there. And there's a lot of vocal power in that chorus! "Asylum" has one of the best solos here, near the two-minute mark, and would make you wanna repeat that part. It's those instrumental sections where the guitar and bass jam all over the place, and the drums tag along for the ride. That can also occur in the beginning of one of two 6-minute epics, "Tyrants of Distress", another one of the best here with great verses and chorus.

"Social Fears" has thunders in with an ominous bass line and a riff that's catchy as h*ll. More of the amazing bass comes in a short solo after the chorus. The title track picks up the speed, and it has the best of all the instruments and vocals. Seriously, these guys have done a splendid job keeping up the expectations required for an album's title track. Prepare to get blown away by the bass solo near the 3-minute point! The following track "Argonne Forest" slows down the pace a bit, and tells a story about the Forest of Argonne's role in the first World War. A catchy bridge shows the guitar heading high into frantic soloing, bringing back some of the speed.

Next up, "Cimmerian Shadows" has a slower pace and lower vocals than the rest. While the aforementioned title track is the highest point, this one is the lowest and almost comes out as bland. Still it doesn't affect the album's perfect glory. "Meltdown" makes up for that by a ton as perhaps the second-best of the album, with fast tempo, an unforgettable chorus, and incredible soloing. It's probably one of the first ever songs by the band, recorded a couple years prior for a compilation.

It's many progressive/technical metalheads' dream to have this band as teachers for music lessons. Energetic Disassembly is an album that's so ahead of our time and showed the band assembling the genres we know as progressive metal and technical speed metal. Consider your mind blown!

Favorites: "Violent Change", "Tyrants of Distress", "Energetic Disassembly", "Meltdown"

The first true Progressive Metal band of all time

Manic technical insanity. There was nothing even remotely close to the progressive technicality going on in metal (or anywhere else aside from Jazz) at the time of this release. So far ahead of it's time that it can still be called an impressive anomaly of musical prowess today.

The music on display here is 5 star material. There are just a few unfortunate problems that really drag it down; first of all, the vocalist isn't great. Especially where every other member is an absolute virtuoso at their instrument, the weak vocalist really stands out. To his credit, he does write some interesting lyrics, especially for the time. The guitar and drum tones are also pretty bad, although the bass sounds great (it's audible).

Regardless, it's probably this album that spawned hyper technical metal, and pushed the genre to even further extremes without simply playing heavier. Groundbreaking and influential, but more importantly still an amazingly entertaining record to this day.