Meshiaak – Alliance of Thieves

[nyrating]

10th August 2016 Thomas Nielsen Album Reviews 0

If I say Annihilator, Trivium, Lamb of God, Metallica, Slayer and Anthrax, I reckon you have an idea whereabouts we are in the metal spectrum. You guessed it: This is thrash metal. It’s not only thrash metal – it’s really, really good thrash metal!

Meshiaak are based in Melbourne, Australia, however, they’ve been reinforced with none other than Jon Dette who beat the skins for Slayer, Testament, Iced Earth and Anthrax. How that works in terms of the weekly band rehearsals, I can’t even begin to make guesses at, but nevermind – the debut album they’ve come up with certainly does the trick.

What ‘Alliance of Thieves’ does so brilliantly is to combine old and new. There is the feeling of some of the old Big Four releases, and at the same time there is the more technically clean aggression of newer thrash metal acts like Lamb of God and Nevermore. The reason that I mentioned Annihilator at the very beginning is that ‘Alliance of Thieves’ sound wise isn’t a far cry from Jeff Waters’ products – plus that there are definite similarities between Danny Camilleri’s vocal performance and that of Dave Padden. That’s not a bad thing.

When you listen to this album, you won’t define it as the new ‘Reign in Blood’ or ‘Master of Puppets’, but you’ll appreciate the solidity of the material. You’ll appreciate the craftsmanship and the band’s ability to vary the songs, both in terms of tempo, mood and heaviness. You’ll probably also appreciate, if you listened to any new music the past ten years, that Meshiaak aren’t deaf to what’s going on in modern metal. The ability to churn out a solid thrash tune and still incorporate a catchy chorus isn’t the worst ability to have.

Below is the tune Drowning, Fading, Falling, which happens to be one of my favourites off ‘Alliance of Thieves’. Enjoy!

Track listing:
1. Chronicles of the Dead
2. It Burns at Both Ends
3. I Am Among You
4. Drowning, Fading, Falling
5. At the Edge of the World
6. Last Breath Taken
7. Maniacal
8. Alliance of Thieves
9. Death of an Anthem

Playing time: 47 minutes

Release date: 19th of August, 2016

Label: Mascot Records

Website: meshiaak.com

About Thomas Nielsen 1051 Articles

When my old buddy Kenn Jensen asked me if I wanted to contribute to the new site he had created, then called powermetal.dk, I didn't hesitate. My love for metal music was and is great. I wrote my first review during the summer of 2004 (Moonspell's 'Antidote' album). In 2015, I took over the editor-in-chief role.