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Nuclear Blast Records
Website :
Forbidden |
It took about thirteen years, but it was worth the wait!
It’s been that long since Forbidden has released a new album. Not
much of a surprise, since the band quit after releasing their last
record which was entitled ‘Green”. It wasn’t until 2007 that the band
reunited to do some touring and basically just have a bit of fun
together. Forbidden started out with Gene Hoglan on drums and Glen
Avelais on guitars, but in 2009 these guys were replaced by Mark
Hernandez (Voi-lence, Heather, Defiance) and Steve Smyth (Testament,
Nevermore, Vicious Rumors). With this line-up, the band did more
extensive touring in Europe among others, and with a fresh take on life
they started writing a new album.
With “Alpha Century”, the album kicks off with a
bombastic, guitar-laden intro larded with drumbeats that lead us to
believe that we are actually marching into the Forbidden century. All
this is followed by the real new Forbidden material in the shape of
“Forsaken At The Gates”. Raging riffs, pumping drim riffs and Russ
Anderson remind us of what it was that Forbidden used to do. This is a
catchy, energetic song which will hardly allow for time to breath during
live renditions. The only downside is that we do hear a number of
effects which have been layered over Russ’ voice. We wonder if this has
been done in order to masque the fact that his voice isn’t what it used
to be, or maybe the band just decided that it sounded good? Guess we’ll
never know. What we do know, is that this album contains some serious,
old-fashioned solo violence. Must say we expected nothing less from the
guitair combination Craig Locicero / Steve Smyth. “Overthrow” is a more
groove-based song, but no less enjoyable. The track “Adapt Or Die” was
placed on myspace some time ago and has therefore become quite
well-known by now. It is definitely one of the best songs on the album
and that’s not just because of the impressive high-pitched scream by
Russ at the beginning of the song. The man can still do it! The song is
downright wicked with a number of interesting solo’s. It doesn’t get
more nostalgic than this. “Swine” has a little less thrah to it and
leans more towards the dark side, but it does have a thrashy bridge
which is followed by a more melodic part. “Chatter” is an instrumental
intermezzo, if we can call it that at all. We hear people talking on
this track, with a simple riff and some guitar feedback. “Dragging The
Casket” hits you like a ton of bricks, starting out with a bunch of
blastbeats and rolling on into a rare thrashfest. Near the end of the
song, Forbidden eases into a lower tempo and we hear Russ’ lower singing
voice. Doesn’t sound bad at all! “Hopenosis” has also been available on
myspace for a while, it’s a much slower song than “Adapt Or Die” but
it’s definitely not a bad thing. Especially the solo’s on this track are
worth your time.
“Immortal Wounds” is another song that illustrates the
feisty, groovy side of Forbidden. “Behind The Mask” is more groovy than
it is thrashy, it even has a heavy metal kind of feel to it. “Inhuman
Race” is a melting pot of many different styles: freaky drumfills,
dragging riffs, almost Gregorian-sounding choir vocals. This song has a
lot to offer, so don’t be discouraged by the previous sentence. The last
song on the album is the title track, a worthy gate-closer: this song
kicks your ass. The album was recorded in the Sonic Room/Audio Voyage
studios in California, it was produced by Craig Locicero and Tim
Narducci. The mixing duties were taken care of by Sean Beavan (Slayer,
Marilyn Manson, Nine Inch Nails) and the artwork was once again created
by Kent Mathieu. Not to be disrespectful, but the artwork for ‘Omega
Wave’ is certainly not the best we’ve seen on a Forbidden album.
‘Omega Wave’ is a solid Forbidden album. Although it’s
not up there with ‘Forbidden Evil’, it’s a true thrash metal record with
a modern twist and an occasional wink at various other styles. Great
job! (Thomas van Golen)
Tracklist:
01. Alpha Century
02. Forsaken at the Gates
03. Overthrow
04. Adapt or Die
05. Swine
06. Chatter
07. Dragging my Casket
08. Hopenosis
09. Immortal Wounds
10. Behind the Mask
11. Inhuman Race
12. Omega Wave
Line-up:
Russ Anderson – Vocals
Craig Locicero – Guitar
Steve Smyth – Guitar
Matt Camacho – Bass
Mark Hernandez – Drums |
