Music

Album Review: Attackhead ‘Voices In The Dark’

Published

13 years ago

January 21, 2011

Around since 2002, Attackhead unashamedly sound like they’re from the 80’s. They’ve got that trashy thrash metal approach that was all the rage back then. And let’s be honest, some of the greatest metal albums came out during that decade. So how does Attackhead hold up with the 80’s thrash metal approach in mind? Find out after the jump.

The album starts with an intro that segues into the title track. The first thing I noticed was the tone of the instruments and my heart sank. Was this the sound I was expected to listen to for an entire album? The answer to that question, my dear reader, is yes. The guitars sound trashy and really unpleasant. The pick attack sounds more like scratching rather than riffing and the higher registers have a really piercing frequency thing going on. The bass is very poorly mixed, sometimes popping in and out from behind the guitars, but never in a predictable manner. The drums sound fine but aren’t mixed that well and the drums sometimes go off rhythm. Lastly, the singer pretty much barks out the lyrics throughout the entire album, making understanding the lyrics somewhat of a chore (except for when he slows down and allows himself time to breathe).

There’s nothing wrong with showing your appreciation and love of a particular style of music. However, the best thing that one can do is try and take what it was that they loved and build upon it. In this case, ‘Voices In The Dark’ doesn’t build anything new. Rather, Attackhead decided to make an album that is just one fast thrash song after another. The lack of any kind of diversity, even having a slower tempo song, makes this album difficult to get through. However, you pick ONE Attackhead song and you can pretty much say you’ve heard them all.

The Final Word: ‘Voices In The Dark’ is like listening to an album that hasn’t aged well: only it’s brand new. The tones of the instruments are unpleasant to hear and there is nothing that the album offers to add to the genre. And let’s be honest, it’s been over 20 years since the 80’s ended, so it’s a bit late to try to add something fresh to that era.

Related Topics:Album Review Attackhead Metal review Voices In The Dark

JonathanBarkan

Managing editor/music guy/social media fella of Bloody-Disgusting

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Music

“He Walks By Night” – Listen to a Brand New John Carpenter Song NOW!

Published

2 weeks ago

April 9, 2024

John Squires

It’s a new day, and you’ve got new John Carpenter to listen to. John Carpenter, Daniel Davies and Cody Carpenter have released the new track He Walks By Night this morning, the second single off their upcoming album Lost Themes IV: Noir, out May 3 on Sacred Bones Records.

Lost Themes IV: Noir is the latest installment in a series that sees Carpenter releasing new music for John Carpenter movies that don’t actually exist. The first Lost Themes was released in 2015, followed by Lost Themes II in 2016 and Lost Themes III: Alive After Death in 2021.

Sacred Bones previews, “It’s been a decade since John Carpenter recorded the material that would become Lost Themes, his debut album of non-film music and the opening salvo in one of Hollywood’s great second acts. Those vibrant, synth-driven songs, made in collaboration with his son Cody Carpenter and godson Daniel Davies, kickstarted a musical renaissance for the pioneering composer and director. With Lost Themes IV: Noir, they’ve struck gold again, this time mining the rich history of the film noir genre for inspiration.

“Since the first Lost Themes, John has referred to these compositions as “soundtracks for the movies in your mind.” On the fourth installment in the series, those movies are noirs. Like the film genre they were influenced by, what makes these songs “noirish” is sometimes slippery and hard to define, and not merely reducible to a collection of tropes. The scores for the great American noir pictures were largely orchestral, while the Carpenters and Davies work off a sturdy synth-and-guitar backbone.

“The trio’s free-flowing chemistry means Lost Themes IV: Noir runs like a well-oiled machine—the 1951 Jaguar XK120 Roadster from Kiss Me Deadly, perhaps, or the 1958 Plymouth Fury from John’s own Christine. It’s a chemistry that’s helped power one of the most productive stretches of John’s creative life, and Noir proves that it’s nowhere near done yielding brilliant results.”

You can pre-save Lost Themes IV: Noir right now! And listen to the new track below…