Long ago there lived a feudal lord. The serfs and vassals referred to him as their
Suzerain. One fateful day the lord's
wife gave birth to twin sons. While the
two boys' infancy and toddler years progressed smoothly and without incident,
it quickly became evident as they grew that they were polar opposites. One son was noble and kind hearted. The other was evil and mean-spirited.
The noble son pursued every action he could for the
betterment of...you know what? Who
cares? Nobility is boring. Let's focus on the evil twin. Much more interesting. He found himself spending much of his free
time visiting the castle's dungeon to speak with the prisoners at great length
about their lives. It was here that he
learned of a secretive order of ne'er-do-wells called the Blood Eagles. This
organization was composed of "all of them thieves" and the twin
learned the leaders wore metal pins fashioned in the shape of wings to denote
their rank.
After the lord made it abundantly clear that the noble twin
would be his true heir, the evil twin left to pursue power elsewhere. Using his conversations from the dungeon for
guidance he quickly made contact with and joined the ranks of the Blood Eagles. After taking a solemn oath to defend/avenge
his newfound criminal partners the young man set out to earn his wings, which he
did in short order. His high born
education certainly helped, but fortuitous events in his life also greased the
wheels for his rapid advancement.
During one of his many physical confrontations with
authority figures lightning struck the ground nearby. This led to people claiming he could magically
breathe lightning. Another occasion saw
the man being chased across rooftops by guards of the manor he'd just
robbed. One of the guards lost his
footing and fell onto the pointy end of a lamp post resulting in his untimely
death. Of course the official story
became the evil twin purposely impaled the guard to get away.
Never one to let a good lie go to waste he let these two
fabrications spread like wildfire throughout the land. To history the man would be remembered as the
monster at the end of a proud family line, yet the men and women he eventually led
looked on him more than kindly. He
brought them together under the endlessly repeated phrases "you gotta
believe!" and "this battle chose us!". In return they called him their King.
Unfortunately the actual King of the land had a zero
tolerance policy towards rebellious thief-lords who upset his idea of how
society ought to be. In short order the
evil twin was hunted down and executed.
So endeth the tale.
Good day waveriders.
By chance has anyone ever heard of the band Anthrax? I'm told they were
kind of a big deal back in the 1980s.
Apparently they had a couple of hit songs and released one particular
album that many metal fans hold in extremely high regard. Something about being among the living? I don't know.
The whole thing sounds a little suspect to me.
I'm kidding of course!
While I don't pretend to be the biggest Anthrax enthusiast this world has ever seen, I am absolutely a fan
who has been enjoying their music for years.
The alluded to Among The Living? It ranks among my favorite metal albums of
all time! That said I lost track of the
band from 2004 until 2011 when Worship
Music was released. When I heard
that album it not only rekindled my fandom, it proceeded to fuel it to new
heights. Fast forward to 2016. The new Anthrax
album was high on my list of most anticipated releases of the year, and guess
what my friends? For All Kings delivers.
It goes without saying that there's thrash metal aplenty. Songs like album opener "You Gotta
Believe", "Evil Twin", and "Zero Tolerance" are the
purest examples of the form in my opinion.
Although it fits the genre criteria I didn't mention
"Suzerain" because it is notably the heaviest track on the album and
another thrash-tastic song, "Defend/Avenge", is my personal favorite
so I wanted to keep it separate as well.
Those of you looking for more of a hard rock vibe with strong metallic
overtones need look no further than "Blood Eagle Wings", "This
Battle Chose Us", or "Breathing Lightning" with it's anthemic
choruses. Last but certainly not least
the title track "For All Kings" is spectacular! Simply stunning!
In case you're concerned that the production might let the
music down, don't be. All of the
instrumentation comes through crisp, clear, and impactful. The guitars always suit the needs of the song
sounding either meaty and nasty, or restrained and graceful. The bass work is rich and vibrant, and the
drums readily provide the locomotion necessary to propel the band and listener
into a mosh-worthy frenzy.
Can I focus in on the vocals for a minute? Good, because they're extraordinary. I'm not here to tell you that Joey
Belladonna's voice is better than it's ever been. What I will say however is that his voice has
seemingly not aged a day and is just as infectious as it ever was back on the
early Anthrax records. His performance
defies reason but take a listen to any of the songs off this album and you will
inevitably draw the same conclusion.
It's amazing!
Waveriders, For All
Kings is a slam dunk! Long standing Anthrax fans will flip head over heels
for this album, and folks new to Anthrax
will discover what all the fuss is about.
Fantastic, fantastic music!
-Penfold
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