By: Richard Maw
Album Type: Full Length
Date Released: 27/10/2017
Label: Century
Media Records
The record is a solid, well written,
well produced and expertly played slice of modern heavy metal. The hooks and
melodies are there and they are very good, but adrenaline is not a key
ingredient any more.
“Hands of Fate” CD//DD//LP track listing:
1. Hands Of Fate
2. Wing And A Prayer
3. Blood Red Road
4. Lay Down Your Arms
5. Solar Corona
6. Eat Your Heart Out
7. Fearless
8. The Last Confession
9. The Crucible
10. Out Of Time
The Review:
Savage Messiah are one of the UK's premier melodic
thrash/heavy metal acts and have done considerable business both at home and
abroad over the course of their first three albums. From their thrashing debut “Insurrection Rising” to the slightly
difficult second album “Plague of
Conscience” and then on to the melodic majesty of “The Fateful Dark”, this fourth album comes with considerable
expectations attached and is wrapped up in an altogether more “serious” package
of artwork and sounds.
Once
again, the band has stepped up onto a larger label, once again the ideas are
forward thinking and once again the production is very good. The title track is
up first and is best described as a mixture of mid period/ latter day Judas Priest and Metallica at their more
melodic. As the record progresses, it is clear that the band are now much more
firmly in the “heavy metal bracket” and much less in the more underground
thrash genre. That is not to say that the album is not heavy- it is; the likes
of “Wing and a Prayer” has chugging
verse sections, lots of leads but all topped with a slick vocal production and
some very catchy soaring choruses.
There
are faster tracks here, but no outright barn burners; “Blood Red Road” shows the band can still put the pedal to the metal
and also demonstrates that Savage Messiah now
inhabit a similar genre to the excellent Absolva- British Heavy
Metal as a composite of classic sounds and bands with a very modern twist. The
band have gone for the solid ten track album format and as the tracks go by,
there is a cohesive feel- even from mid paced stompers like “Lay Down Your Arms” to the speedier
melodies “Solar Corona” to the
anthemic and pacey “Eat Your Heart Out”-
which almost sounds like a classic Def Leppard track until
the first riff kicks in.
Make
no mistake, this is slick stuff and offers up a kind of composite which bridges
NWOBHM sounds and enthusiasm with Priest at their arena
conquering height whilst also taking in more modern production techniques and
sounds. “Fearless” is almost hard
rock- the vocal and chorus could be straight off … well, something a lot more
commercial than I would expect. The solo section makes up for this somewhat
saccharine turn, though.
There
is nothing over five minutes on this album, which is quite telling in regards
to where the band are aiming for and where they are heading. The quasi-ballad “Last Confession” drops the tempo but
does not extend the playing time, opting instead for an anthemic chorus and a
quiet/loud dynamic. The final two tracks of the album appealed to me a lot
more- “The Crucible” is one of the
heavier tracks on the album with a solid riff and commercial leanings kept to a
minimum, while “Out of Time”
provides a darkly atmospheric finish to this
intriguing record.
Overall,
then we can conclude: Savage Messiah are a
thrash band no longer and that style has not been pursued here. The band are
making a play for commercial appeal by dialling down the metal imagery and more
spiky elements of their sound. The record is a solid, well written, well
produced and expertly played slice of modern heavy metal. The hooks and
melodies are there and they are very good, but adrenaline is not a key
ingredient any more. Having seen the band at Damnation Festival in 2015 (I
think) I was converted into a fan over the course of their short set. You would
be hard pressed to find many bands doing this style better. If melodic heavy
metal is your bag, then definitely check this out- if thrash madness is what
you are after, then Kreator, Overkill, Sodom and others have
more of what you need.
“Hand of Fate” is available
here
Band
info: facebook
