Thrash is the original medium by which heavy metal's version of edgelords would express their opinions, be they informed or otherwise, to the most ridiculously fast and brazen of sonic arrangements humanly possible. Contrary to popular sentiments of today, this is still the norm, and despite the fact that younger bands are taking their cues from a musical style now decades old, the objects of their respective derision are definitely current and, dare this reviewer say it, relevant. Naturally one expecting a poetic expression of the sociopolitical subjects that some bands in this style may choose to explore lyrically on par with MacBeth are doing it wrong from the start, this is a style that has all the subtlety of a hammer to the face, so the words coming along for the ride will naturally follow a similar pattern. This isn't to say that there isn't a point where things can become outright ridiculous and become a detriment where lyrics are concerned, nor should this be treated as an endorsement of the corresponding opinions under consideration, but all the hoopla surrounding Havok's excursion into thrash metal syllogisms and portmanteau Conformicide comes off as goofier than the Disney character himself.
Painting the sonic fringes of this manifesto of political rebellion for its own sake is a surprisingly inventive and technical display of musicianship that is highly engaging, if not bordering on progressive. Much of this can be credited to the recent entry of bassist Nick Schendzielos, who is perhaps best known as one of the latter entries into Job For A Cowboy's ranks that ended up steering said band towards actual death metal legitimacy, and has a fairly extensive record on the technical and experimental end of the death metal style among a number of lesser known projects. His style is fairly reminiscent of the slap work that often adorned Cryptopsy's formative works, though in a retro-thrash context it comes off more as a sort of Les Claypool meets Robert Trujillo circa his tenure with Infectious Grooves. This isn't to downplay the highly impressive job that Reece Scruggs does in ripping out guitar solos reminiscent of Marty Friedman, nor Pete Webber's lightning fast drum work and David Sanchez's vocal renditions of Morbid Saint and late-era Chuck Schuldiner with an occasional side-helping of Dave Mustaine, but this whole album works on a whole other level thanks to Schendzielos' bass contributions, occasionally flexing the definition of thrash metal in ways not normally explored among the current revivalist crowd.
While consistency tends to be the rule in putting together an old school thrash metal album, this is one of those albums that provides the occasionally needed bucking of said trend to showcase that no style is wholly chained down by mid-80s stylistic dogma. Truth be told, Conformicide is one of a small number of albums that present a road not taken by the style in the early 90s, incorporating elements of funk and groove without allowing the thrash foundation to be completely upended in the process. The result is a collection of fairly long and extremely multifaceted songs that mix driving speed with off-the-cuff interludes that might pass for Revocation if the production aesthetic was a bit darker and death metal tinged. Extensive acoustic passages, funky slap bass displays and somewhat jazzy sounding moments where the arrangement actually comes off as loose and flowing are all a fairly common occurrence, turning songs such as "F.P.C.", "Dogmaniacal", and "Peace Is In Pieces" into almost unlikely thrashers that accomplish much of their magic at slower tempos. On the other side of the coin is a collection of shorter and more straight up neck-ruining fists to the head like "Hang 'Em High", "Claiming Certainty" and "Wake Up" that still mix things up a bit, but are much closer to what fans of Havok's older repertoire would expect.
In the past, innovation has often proven to be thrash metal's worst enemy, second perhaps only to the recording industry of the early 1990s that was more interested in selling Seattle to the rest of America than providing a means for consumers to hear a variety of sounds. Havok's latest offering proves that it doesn't necessarily have to be that way, and that not every album has to sound like Master Of Puppets or Reign In Blood in order to capture that magical spirit of the 1980s and translate it into something new for the current generation. It's an album that takes into account the interesting notion of splicing in various non-metallic styles as was done by the likes of Suicidal Tendencies and Coroner in the mid 90s but still maintaining an 80s thrash template, and probably would have been an interesting alternative road for the style in retrospect, had it been put out in 1992 or 1993 instead of 2017. Then again, timing isn't necessarily everything, and in spite of the present political climate being a stumbling block for some to overcome wherein this band's lyrical content is concerned, time will likely find this album being respected as a bold step outside of the comfort zone that Havok had established for themselves from Pwn 'Em All through Unnatural Selection. But all that aside, this is an album that hits the ground running and goes through so many twists and turns that it will never get old.
Official promo video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
Sample: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
