Band: Entrenched
Album: Preemptive Strike
Year: 2011
Country: USA
Genre: Death/Thrash Metal
I love war themed metal, especially in the death metal genre. I mean what is more in line with death metal than to growl your guts out about mass destruction and hot hunks of metal tearing people to pieces? Entrenched play death/thrash with a heavy war theme like Bolt Thrower, or Hail of Bullets.
While listening to Preemptive Strike I first noticed the vocals. There is a high pitched rasp and a low death growl that remind me heavily of Bill Steer and Jeff Walker's older work in Carcass. Needless to say being a big fan of Carcass I love what Sean Fitzpatrick and Charles Snyder are doing here. Its a complete throwback and with the thrash thrown in it also makes me think of Ghoul.
Death/thrash can be a lot of fun and when you play the first song (Intro (Mobilized)) you know exactly what you're getting. The riffs are often very groovy and are all rather pleasing to the ear. Landbrecher 666 is especially good and it bleeds right into Frenzied Amputation, another good track. The solos on the album are also pretty cool. What they lack in technicality they make up for in quality.
I really enjoy the production here as well. Unlike a lot of the modern thrash bands who prefer to thin out the guitars to make it sound like they were recorded in the 80s Entrenched went with a meaty thicker sound and it fits the theme and style. There are also a few sound bytes thrown in to some of the songs for good measure and its done well. The intro to ICBM has a piece of what sounds like an old documentary or something recounting how fragile the human body is when it comes to the different ways a nuclear bomb can kill you.
Preemptive Strike is a good (not great) album that people who like bands like Bolt Thrower, Warbringer, or HoB will enjoy. Its some good punishing death/thrash with excellent vocals and I hope to hear more from them in the future.
Score: 7/10
Standout Tracks: Landbrecher 666, Frenzied Amputation
No comments:
Post a Comment