ARTILLERY - B.A.C.K.
A PROMISING RETURN TO FORM.
Nine long years after the highly succesful "By Inheritance", Artillery got back together again and released an album titled B.A.C.K.. On this album Per Møller Jensen (Invocator & The Haunted) is behind the drumkit. Guitar wizard Morten Stützer also handles the bass on this comeback album.
Releasing a comeback album in 1999 seems to be risky and I guess many fans dreaded a nu-metal or at least groove metal stained album but Artillery didn't fell into that commercial trap like so many other bands have done lately. This is neither a Fear of tomorrow part II nor a By Inheritance part II, it does however carry a bigger resemblance to their magnum opus 'By Inheritance'. This album still has it's own identity and ideas without becoming a statement of it's time. B.A.C.K. has this timeless presence over it, you still can hear in an instant that you're listening to Artillery and nothing else. But I guess making a song about the "World Wide Web" dates this album to the late 90's. haha.
I like the crunchy riffs of this record, it's so good, the guitar play is really what stands out on this record. The lyrics aren't of the cutting edge that I want in my music but thought provocative lyrics are perhaps not the main focus of most thrash fans. Andy Sneap has done a good job producing this album though. Flemming Rönsdorf's vocals needs a certain acquired taste to get into and this is certainly not the best performance of his career, he sounds a bit tormented here but I still like his voice. He has a very unique style.
I remember when this album came out and I thought it was a breath of fresh air since this was the start of the whole thrash metal revival that took place in the early 2000's. Starting with an album like Artillery's B.A.C.K. and Testament's The Gathering to namedrop another.
Sure a few songs falls short on this comeback album but I think that this is a very solid comeback-album. I'm glad to welcome Artillery B.A.C.K..
Rating:
| INFO |
Label: DieHard Music Year: 1999 Country: Denmark Duration: 40:21 Tracks: 10 Genre: Thrash Reviewer: Ruthless Rating: 4/5 | ||
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