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<\/a><\/p>\nTalk about a supergroup! This time it’s not just some half-super, semi-famous metal musicians who lay claim to the label ‘super’. This is more like a who’s who of people who have defined thrash metal during three decades. We are talking representatives from Megadeth, Death Angel, Exodus\/Slayer, Testament, Pantera\/Down, Machine Head, Anthrax, Sepultura, Trivium\u00a0and\u00a0Lamb of God. Beyond these prominent thrash names, there are emissaries from Dream Theater, King’s X, Mastodon, Lacuna Coil, Periphery, Constricted and Hatebreed.<\/p>\n
I don’t know about you, but I get a bit suspicious when I hear the word supergroup or a term like ‘musical collective’. Just because all of these great musicians create fantastic music in their respective bands, it doesn’t mean that when they come together, magic happens. Remember\u00a0when Roadrunner brought\u00a0a shitload of amazing musicians together a decade ago\u00a0to make a 25th anniversary album? Was it over the top amazing? Nah, not really.<\/p>\n
Unlike said project, there is a different consistency of the quality of the material of\u00a0the ‘Metal Allegiance’ album. The reason could be that there\u00a0are three constants behind\u00a0the album: Mike Portney, Alex Skolnick and Dave Ellefson. These three\u00a0form the basis of the entire album and you can tell how\u00a0well they work together, and –\u00a0if you are to trust the video sequences\u00a0aired on youtube the past few weeks –\u00a0they’ve had fun making all the ends come together with the different singers and additional guitarists.<\/p>\n
The singers, ranging from Randall Blythe to Dough Pinnick, have been\u00a0sought out carefully for songs where their particular style and forces come out brilliantly.\u00a0Blythe opens the ball with his aggression, Mastodon’s Troy Sanders takes over with a slower and darker ditty, \u00a0Chuck Billy gives you the majestic thrash punch in the face and so on and so forth. In the process,\u00a0two absolutely amazing pairings have been made, building unexpected intensity\u00a0in\u00a0one instance and ditto beauty in another. Coupling Dug Pinnick (King’s X) with Jamey\u00a0Jasta (Hatebreed) is a strike of genius. The two compliment each other perfectly in a song which is build around the interplay between\u00a0the warm calm of Pinnick and Jasta’s aggression. The other couple who compliment each other excellently are Mark\u00a0Osegueda (Death Angel)\u00a0and Cristina Scabbia (Lacuna Coil), but this time the result is simply heavy metal at its most beautiful. Scars is\u00a0a true hit song if you ask me.<\/p>\n
With Alex Skolnick\u00a0handling most of the lead and rhythm guitars of the album, you might\u00a0think that the entire\u00a0disc has Testament all over it. Well, yeah, it does to a certain extent.\u00a0The man\u00a0plays a characteristic guitar, but, that said, I think he manages to draw upon\u00a0numerous references from other thrash metal bands, and he is, of course, helped by the many other guitarists who have contributed to the various songs. If you listen to the almost eight minute long\u00a0instrumental Triangulum, there is\u00a0Testament in there, but there is also so much\u00a0more – and how could there not be with people like Bumblefoot, Charlie Benante, Misha Mansoor, Phil demmel, Matt Heafey and Ben Weinman chipping in? The\u00a0tune Dying Song, featuring Phil Anselmo, could easily be Pantera anno 2015, not a trace of Testament there (and, yes, it’s that good).<\/p>\n
‘Metal Allegiance’ is one of those albums I can listen to over and over again. It’s got a great sound, great musicians who can put together great, diverse songs with lots of fine details to wallow in. \u00a0Enjoy this, boys and\u00a0girls, it could be a one-off, although I sincerely do not hope so.<\/p>\n