Huh? What's that I hear in the distance? A familiar sound; comes around on its yearly orbit professing to destroy all in its path...yep that's it...straight out of Donzdorf Germany, a massive hulking beast they call the 'Hype Machine'. All props to the guys at Nuclear Blast, they do enormous work in the name of metal and I love them dearly. But when it comes to hype, the hard sell and blatant propaganda if you will, NB have no rival. You'll no doubt be bombarded very soon, but if you haven't quite got the news - their newest signing, Canada's 'Threat Signal' are about to take the metal world by the balls!
Right from the outset, I have to admit as a debut album, from a band that only formed in 2003, 'Under Reprisal' is a pretty shit hot sounding record. Clearly Nuclear Blast (having won a ferocious bidding war for the bands contract) has a major belief in this bands potential and have ensured 'UR' is the best possible representation of their sound and style - hence their willingness to fly the band to LA to record the debut with Fear Factory's Christian Olde Wolbers. Laid down in just under five weeks, this disc has 'professional' and 'mature' written all over it. It sounds much more like a band that has been around for a decade than one that is three years young!
As awesome as this disc sounds, the most important things is WHO it sounds like. And make no mistake folks, these guys sound like lots of other very familiar and enormously popular metal bands. NB might dress them up as some sort of unique metal act - that's the hype machine whipping into gear again folks - but in all essence 'Threat Signal' play a very familiar game. They just happen to do it pretty darn well. I have absolutely no doubt that these guys are going to be HUGE! - It's pretty easy to understand that when the likes of your influences include a hybrid mix of Meshuggah meets Fear Factory meets Pantera meets Strapping Young Lad meets Linkin Park!! Yep this is a visceral combination of influences that brings to the table slabs of molten syncopated riffage (Meshuggah), metalcore screaming (aka Howard Jones KSWE), harmonious guitar leads ( aka Soilwork), ripping guitar solos (Pantera), old school thrash, melodic singing (Fear Factory/Linkin Park), dynamic musical passages (SYL) and a shit load of catchy hooks. Sound good? The homework has been done punters and you can bet your life that this will sell by the proverbial truck load.
Yet, it's the song factor that is the real key here and quite clearly 'Threat Signal' is still finding their feet in this regard. Once you get past the 'sonic heaven' of this album, only a few of the 11 tracks laid out here really stick in the memory. Unfortunately, it is the more 'commercial/clean chorus' friendly tracks that have this effect. Hell, if NB doesn't release 'Counter Balance' as a single I don't know shit. Not that it is a bad thing - I'm up for catchy hooks any time - its just that I can see (and I hope I am wrong) the band heading further down this path in the future and perhaps compromising their heaviness. Whatever happens I do hope they stick with the melodic lead work and dedicated 'guitar solo' aspects of their songwriting. Most impressive.
In the end, 'Under Reprisal' is a simply stunning example of the sort of debut that can be put together when things run your way. And they are clearly a very talented act - but one that still needs to define its own character. Nuclear Blast will have you believe that "Under Reprisal sets a new standard in the genre of melodic death metal, and makes THREAT SIGNAL one of the most promising newcomer acts in the Metal scene!"Under Reprisal" is a MUST HAVE" - the machine is in full swing folks, believe it if you will. If you want my opinion, it gets better with every listen but I'd approach it with some caution....it's pretty good...but not THAT good!
- Krozza
(See reviewer's scoring method)
