ARTILLERY X | Weekly Heavy Metal Album Review

Released by Metal Blade Records on May 7th, 2021

Quick Background

Artillery are a Danish thrash metal band. They participated in the early development of the genre. After releasing three full-length albums and touring extensively throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, Artillery disbanded in 1991, but reunited seven years later releasing B.A.C.K. (1999), only to disband once again in 2000. However, they reformed again in 2007 putting out When Death Comes (2009).  Artillery combine melodic thrash metal with 80s heavy metal, giving it a power metal edge. Those first three albums are very well regarded as important thrash album and highly recommended if you like thrash but missed those jewels. 

X

Returning with their tenth full length - and appropriately titled - album X, Artillery are not showing signs of slowing down. The 11 tracks in 46 minutes album are full of riffs and hook lines combined with aggression and melody. Straightforward, with a couple of exceptions, all songs are between 4 and 5 minutes, so short, direct and all of them to the point 

The opening of the album with a Slayer-ish meets Metallica's "Fight Fire with Fire" sets the scene for the good opening track "The Devil's Symphony".  But then the vocals from Michael Dahl enter the song and we get a vibe similar to Anthrax or Annihilator due to the clean vocals (thrash metal bands with an A?). The other similarity with Annihilator are the very technical guitar work and riffs by Michael Stützer and the new member Kræn Meier who replaced original member Morten Stützer, guitarist - and Stützer's brother, who sadly passed in 2019. The combination of aggression and melody while being highly technical reminds me of the heaviest songs from Symphony X.

How not to love  thrash 220 BPM song about thrash? "In Thrash We Trust" with lyrics like 'In thrash we trust - you can, you will, you must' the fun is guaranteed. The thrash riffs in this song are just great. It is one of the best examples of the proficient and interesting guitarwork on this album. On the other hand, songs like "Turn Up the Rage" and "Silver Cross" while still heavy, dial up the melodic influences and are borderline power metal hymns. "The Ghost of Me" goes even further into the melodic path. It is sort of a power ballad that works, and I very rarely say those words together.  

The musicianship on the album is pretty good and forms a solid foundation for the band to deliver on their ideas. Singer Michael Dahl  does an excellent job singing melodically and clean but also powerful and never over the top. Regarding the rhythmic section, it's not so easy to hear but the bass is working very well with the drums, rarely taking the spotlight ("The Force of Indifference" and "Eternal Nights" as good exceptions) but very solid basis to support the melody while giving the songs a heavy punch. 

The Picky Guy

The only overall remark that I would make is that it is not a very original record. It actually sounds a lot like songs we've heard before, but hey, it works for me. On the bright side it does sound fresh and modern. I also find the album flow quite good and all but one song are at the right place. "The Force of Indifference" despite also having cool riffs and a very decent verse, does not flow well for me and I don't like the chorus.

Wrap Up Opinion 

Artillery delivered their tenth record as if it was a debut: Ruthlessly heavy, catchy and pure metal. The fusion of 80's thrash with traditional heavy metal is perfectly executed creating some headbanger tunes to sing along with our fists in the air. I must give it a 84/100 a very good thrash metal album that will please new and old fans looking for that perfect mix of melody and aggression. 

SCORE: 84/100

Genre: Thrash Metal

Released by Metal Blade Records on May 7th, 2021

Rating System

99 - 100 Perfect
94 - 98 Excellent
87 - 93 Great
82 - 86 Very Good
77 - 81 Good
66 - 76 Mixed
58 - 65 Bad

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