Battlecross
War Of Will Metal Blade
'War of Will' is the follow up to the excellent debut 'Pursuit of Honor' and sees Battlecross taking giant steps up the Metal ladder in leaps and bounds, with Thrash being on the up and grabbing Metalheads attention the world wide over. It can be hard at times to pick a band that rises above the rest and without a doubt Battlecross are one of the strongest, if not best new (ish) thrash bands out there, that are close to the top.
Album opener 'Force Fed Lies' is relentless, thrashing and starts off the album as it means to go on, with guttural growls and insane riffs. Next 'Flesh and Bone\ sees Hiran Deraniyagala and Tony Asta battering and bruising their respective guitars and reaping flames of molten iron from the earth’s core, and I can imagine walls of death aplenty with this track. 'Never Coming Back' is two and a half minutes of growls from the pits of hell, as vocalist Kyle Gunther shows his skills, interspersed with shrieks of hellish intensity.
'Vaccine' has a heavy and deep bass heavy filled groove delivered by Don Slater, it pounds and knocks on the doors to the asylum of insanity. 'Get Over It' curdles and batters your brain cells with its mean, aggressive venom, it is at once menacing and exquisite.Kevin Talley’s drums are completely annihilated on the thrashing, neck breaking 'Ghost Alive' and riffs of battle drenched heavy ness are delivered with 'Wage a War' and 'The Will To Overcome', which digs deep into your conscience and is truly the piece de resistance.
'Beast' starts slowly and builds into a track of intimidating excellence, it kind of made my hairs stand on end the first time I heard it. It's fierce delivery and telling lyrics are a frenzy of madness and keeping the 'Beast' inside from you!. 'Beast' in a word is “superb”! Guttural, antagonistic and one of my favourite songs of the year so far.
Final track 'Never Ending Night' is a fine finish to a cracking album from these highly energetic Detroit Rock City Thrash Metal aficionados. 'War of Will' combines Melodic Thrash with Death metal and delivers on all fronts. The band are playing major festivals and touring with the likes of Trivium, Inflames, Demon Hunter and many more. 'War of Will' will guarantee your neck will be strained and your head-banged throughout the ten tracks on here. Make sure you keep an eye out for this band and grab a hold of this album, it’s a must.
Review by: Seb Di Gatto
Tracklisting:
1. Force Fed Lies2. Flesh And Bones3. Never Coming Back4. My Vaccine5. Get It Over6. Ghost Alive7. Wage A War8. The Will To Overcome9. Beast10. Never Ending Night
