Anthrax -- 'We've Come For You All' [classic review]

Anthrax
"We've Come For You All"
(Sanctuary Records)


"The reality is that when it is going to be 5 years, one or two months don't make any difference in that point because there is already five years. Our point was to make the best record that we can ever possibly make, to make it sound amazing, to make the best record that Anthrax has ever done and released and has state of mind and that's why it took a little bit longer."

-- Anthrax vocalist John Bush

You can really tell Anthrax took its time with this one.

All the heavy handed genre staples are stripped away, yet still there in a subtle manner. Instead, "We've Come..." offers up a heavy helping of metal, tempered with the rock-ish sound John Bush brought to the band.

"Safe Home" may have been the lead off single (and perhaps the "strongest" track on the album), but it was hardly indicative of what "We've Come..." offers. There's a depth of sick double-bass drumming and bass trade-offs throughout the disc (courtesy of drummer Charlie Benate and bassist Frank Bello), but an even sicker offering of riffs from newcomer Rob Caggiano. With Scott Ian anchoring the production, each song permeates a slick thrash rhythm but is tempered with a slower "metallic" approach. The metal isn't too extreme, but it's still a solid kick in the gut.

From the anthem "What Doesn't Die" (which spirals to a head at break-neck speed toward its finale) to the seething "Refuse to Be Denied" and chugging "Nobody Knows Anything," Anthrax is tight and spot-on. Bush growls and emotes his way through each song while the rest of the pack jams away as a tight unit. Even a surprise appearance by the late Dimebag Darrell is downplayed due to the overwhelming wave of metal Anthrax serves up. In the end, the band manages to put together one of 2003's best: a tight metal juggernaut with a host of influences, genres and talent on display.

"We've Come For You All" was the perfect album for the culmination of what Anthrax has become. It might not fill the void thrash fans might have wanted. But, much like Machine Head with "Through the Ashes of Empires," Anthrax saw a solid return to (its new) form with this release. The album is full, vibrant, aggressive to the core and features few weak moments. In short, it is everything fans who loved the Bush-era stuff wanted in an album.

If the band decides to not work with Bush again in the future, this album acts as a perfect bookend to the experiment: there was the explosive opening with "The Sound of White Noise" and the equally impressive "We've Come For You All." In between, there was some good and bad, but nothing can dim the effect of the new and older classics.

Rebel Meets Rebel -- Self-titled [review]

Rebel Meets Rebel
“Rebel Meets Rebel”
(Big Vin Records)

It not supposed to be a country album, not supposed to be a metal album. I guess, deep down it’s a little of both though, for the most part, it’s essentially Pantera being fronted by a honky-tonk rocker.

Well, to be fair, that’s might not quite be it either.

What it is, is a testament to the driving artistic nature of the late Dimebag Darrell.

The Rebel Meets Rebel album (recorded between 1999 and 2003) features Dimebag, brother Vinnie Paul on drums, bassist Rex Brown and David Allen Coe).

The second those oh-so-familiar riffs kick up on the opener “Nothin’ to Lose,” any fan will feel a smile creep across their face. And while Coe’s voice needs a little “getting used to,” it really starts to grow on you and by the time the disc starts over after a full listen, you forget why you had any issue to begin with.

This album isn’t breaking any new ground and isn’t setting any new trend. It’s simply showcasing a group of guys jamming together for fun and the mutual love of music. Longtime fans of Pantera or Dime will be happy with the usual riff-heavy fare, but there’s a couple of curveballs thrown in for good measure. There’s Dime trading riffs with a fiddler on the title-track; Dime doing his damnedest to actually make his guitar sound like a fiddle on “Nothin’ to Lose”; Dime sharing vocal duties on the title track; Dime tearing it up with an acoustic guitar on “N.Y.C. Streets.”

Everyone else more than pulls their weight on this album. Brown throws down some sick grooves on a multitude of songs, Vinnie is a lot more subdued behind the kit but still makes his presence felt and Coe not only keeps pace with the Cowboys from Hell, but comes up with some great lyrics along the way.

Of particular note is the album closer, “N.Y.C. Streets.” As the story goes, Coe told Dime (and I’m paraphrasing here) that the true test for musicians is to just jam together, make up a song on the spot and see what comes out. The duo went up to Dime’s room and recorded a song on a four-track there and then, completely spur of the moment. Apart from a couple of added guitar tracks Dime added later, “N.Y.C. Streets” was what was recorded that night.

Fans of Dime, Pantera and/or Damageplan will eat it up. Metal fans could find a lot to enjoy. Country fans a little less. But the album is really a gift to the fans and an effort to keep Dime’s memory alive. It works — very well — on both fronts. Would this disc have seen release so soon (if ever) had the tragedy not come to pass? Who can say? But it is here and is a testament to all involved.

Byzantine -- 'And They Shall Take Up Serpents' [classic review]

Byzantine
"And They Shall Take Up Serpents "
(Prosthetic Records)


"We are late 80's early 90's Heavy Metal. I think we are a throwback band. Seriously, our influences are predominantly from that time i.e. Carcass, Forbidden, and Testament. We love to have melody juxtaposed with abrasive rhythms, without sounding too fancy or glossed over. Some people have said we are 'tech-metal' and some have said 'hardcore' but I don't hear that at all."

-- Byzantine guitarist/vocalist Chris "OJ" Ojeda

The beauty of "And They Shall Take Up Serpents" is that each track is chock-full of tempo-shifts and epic guitar interplay. And the lead vocals act almost as a homage to older work by Phil Anselmo -- there's an abrasive, aggressive full-on metal delivery but with the ability to shift into soaring melody at the drop of a hat within the same song.

The tight, yet expansive sound comes from the fact that this is simply a three-piece. With Rohrbough handling the bass and part of the rhythm and lead guitars, Ojeda the other rhythm and leads in addition to piano tracking and vocals and Wolfe handling the percussion but also delving into some acoustic guitar interludes, Byzantine offers up a tight-knit collection of fast-paced mayhem, albeit organized mayhem

From the Ministry-influenced machine gun opening of "Justica," Byzantine immediately sets out to prove there's no screwing around on "... Serpents." It's almost impossible to imagine all this sound coming from a three-piece: the blistering trade-off drumming and bass fills; the breakneck dual guitar riffing -- and that's all in the first minute of the album. Once OJ kicks in with the scratchy vocals and the final piece of the puzzle falls into place, one need only wait for the album to unfold minute by masterful minute.

On the title track, the band seamlessly pulls influence from various corners of the genre: the death metal drumming and bass work, the thrash guitar riffing and early-90s, in-your-face, metal vocals. The crunch of "Ancestry of the Antichrist" is tempered with various tempo changes and even a Soulfly-worthy acoustic breakdown of sorts -- when the vocals eventually kick back in during the later half of the song, the band's groove-laiden soul is on full display -- with everything pulled together by one sole, simple, repetitive riff. The Byzantine assault comes on full bore on "Temporary Temples," the high-speed tempo never letting up as solo after solo is strung together to form a wall of sound.

Indeed, there's a little nuance in every song that pushes each just that little but further to create something special: the sick groove of "Five Faces of Madness," the desperation vocals on "Red Neck War," the down-tuned crunch on "The Rat Eaters" and the explosive vocals and expansive nature the band's best song, "Jeremiad."

The band is able to take pieces from the broad metal spectrum, crush it all together with a liberal helping of groove and excess and bleed the mix until it coagulates around a solid core of talent. I've tried to sample a hefty range of new metal acts to hit the scene in the past couple of years, but none seem to come close to presenting such an epic, progressive sound. Shadows Fall come close but don't seem to have as expansive a well to pull from; Trivium's sound feels more crisp; Mastodon is more muddy.

"And They Shall Take Up Serpents" seemed to be a fairly overlooked release in 2005. It's fresh, exciting and no matter how much you listen to the album, it never seems to get boring.