Chris Broderick, Shawn Drover, Harry Derek and Matt Bachand form this ‘kind of super’ group. The former members from bands like Jag Panzer, Megadeth, Scar the Marty, Nevermore, Eidolon and Shadows Fall have already earned their stripes elsewhere and that obliges high expectations. Perhaps you expect that Matt Bachand is responsable for some guitar parts (like he used to do playing in SF), but he changed to playing bass on this album.
When you look at the bands the members played for, you perhaps expect a kind of musical mix of these styles. Sometimes you indeed hear several influences, but for the bigger part I also hear other music the band is inspired by. The modern thrash style with old school references they play is a kind of mix of bands like Testament, Exodus, Machine Head, Rage and some more modern groovy thrash styles. They emulge old school with more modern thrash and use some heavy power metal influences. For the modern power metal influences I had to think of the band Rage sometimes, but a tad heavier. Henry’s vocals are also a middle road of thrash and early death style. That variation gives the songs something extra. With Chris involved you can also expect enough shredding on this album. The tempo on this album is mid-tempo and faster most of the time. “Thy Lord Belial” for example is in a fast Exodus tempo, whilst “Obey the Fallen” is more mid tempo. One of my favorite tracks is “Crimson Psalm”, which is a very variable track with influences of Megadeth – an interesting mid-tempo piece and an interesting solo.
I hope that I gave you an idea of what to expect, but for those who still have no idea, here is a nice video.
Tracklist:
01. Throwback
02. Legion Of Lies
03. Thy Lord Belial
04. Refrain And Re Fracture
05. Dead Stare
06. Disatrophe
07. Poison Dream
08. Obey The Fallen
09. Crimson Psalm
10. Birth And the Burial
Playing time: 47:00
Release date: August 21, 2015
Label: Metal Blade Records
Website: www.facebook.com/actofdefiancemusic
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