It's strange that the older I get and the more my musical tastes continue to expand, there is still something about the genre of heavy metal that can draw me back into its grip. I cannot claim I have an enyclopedic knowledge about most of today's bands - and I freely admit my mind's gears are probably still stuck in the '90s - but when I hear something that piques my interest, it's suddenly like I'm in my late teens or early 20s again.

Assault Brigade, an international conglomeration of musicians from otherwise established acts, has done just that with their debut effort The Worst Is Yet To Come. Sounding like Testament and Deicide thrown into a blender, the eight original tracks contained on this one (as well as an alternative mix of one song) suggest that, with a little more spit and polish, they could well be a force to be dealt with in heavy metal.

Under the core members of vocalist Helge Roe, and multi-instrumentalists Robson Dionisio and Salva Campuzano, Assault Brigade live up to the first portion of their name, pounding forth aggressive melodies into the listener's eardrums, including not only the traditional themes of death and carnage, but also a slight smirk at today's society. "Birds Aren't Real" is the ultimate middle finger to the aluminum foil-wearing conspiracy theorists whose views of reality are more skewed than someone looking at themselves in a funhouse mirror.

Musically, Assault Brigade is fairly solid, though there are occasional moments where the vocals and the rhythm don't seem to be perfectly in sync - but these moments are not often. Vocally, Roe (as well as one appearance from Fredrik Wester) are fairly typical metal, where you need the lyrical sheet at times to decipher the songs, but are not unpleasant.

Tracks such as "Into The Meatgrinder," "Man Is The Warmest Place To Hide" and the title track all suggest that Assault Brigade has the capability to be a significant name in the genre. The only negative (if you can call it that) is that, because Dionisio and Campuzano handled the majority of the guitars, bass and drums on these songs, it would limit any ability to tour at the moment. Finding similar musicians who could uphold the level of quality that Dionisio and Campuzano laid down would allow the band a chance to get their name further out there.

The Worst Is Yet To Come, hopefully, isn't a prediction of things to come for Assault Brigade; if anything, this first step holds out a lot of hope that greater things lie ahead for the band. It will be interesting to follow their career... and certainly made this old man feel young again for a little bit.

Rating: B+

User Rating: Not Yet Rated

Comments