Worst/Most Disappointing Albums of 2012

5.  BONDED BY BLOOD: THE AFTERMATH
Bonded by Blood was once one of the more impressive retro thrash metal bands out there.  Their last release was very good.  Unfortunately, they went through a change in vocalists and basically phoned in this album.  A shame.

4.  ELUVEITIE: HELVETIOS
When I first heard Eluveitie, I was blown away by them.  Their combination of melodic death metal an Celtic folk metal was extremely impressive.  But since then, Eluveitie has been trying desperately to remake that same album to increasingly lackluster results.  I am not sure I will give them another chance.

3.  SONATA ARCTICA: STONES GROW HER NAME
Like Eluveitie, Sonata Arctica was a band that I was so impressed by when I first heard them that I still check them out on new albums despite not being horribly impressed by anything they have put out since I first heard them.  This is their worst one yet.  It's basically modern rock at this point, there is very little power metal left.

2.  TIAMAT: THE SCARRED PEOPLE
I do not care for Tiamat's take on gothic rock.  But with seemingly each new release I hear something about the band incorporating some of their atmospheric death metal elements that the band did so well early on.  Each time it is false.  This time is no exception.

1.  THE SORROW: MISERY-ESCAPE
Run-of-the-mill metalcore with Christian lyrics.  Need I say more?

FMA Reviews: Bonded by Blood: The Aftermath

Originally reviewed here.

When a band names themselves after a famous album, you would expect that band to try to live up to the name. Bonded by Blood is named after the amazing debut album from thrash metal pioneers Exodus. It is one of the better, if not the best, thrash metal albums in history. So Bonded by Blood already has their work cut out for them to try to not be "that band named after the Exodus album" and forge their own identity.

On their prior album, Exiled to Earth, Bonded by Blood appeared as if they had discovered their own sound, stepping out of the shadow for a little while of their namesake. They had crafted a rather impressive concept album about a dystopian future. The album was well-received and appeared to set the band up for success in the future. Bonded by Blood had joined the ranks of Skeletonwitch, Vektor, and other newer thrash metal bands to truly find their own voice instead of just copying the music that had come before them.

Which brings us to Bonded by Blood's third album. The third album is often an important album in a band's catalogue. It usually lays the foundation for how the band is going to proceed. Will they grow or will they stagnate? Well it appears from this album that Bonded by Blood will stagnate. Bonded by Blood has not taken a step forward after their impressive sophomore album. This is more of a lateral step. They did not really take a step back, but this is basically indistinguishable from any other thrash metal album.

There are two big problems here. The first one is the vocals. Bonded by Blood features a new singer this time around, Mauro Gonzales. Their previous singer Jose Barrales was a very good thrash metal vocalist, exhibiting a similar style to Exodus screamers Paul Baloff and Steve Souza. Gonzales's style is cleaner and not as raw. It is less a thrash metal style and more of a classic heavy metal style. It's fine for what it is, but their last vocalist captured the genre a little bit more.

The other issue is the production. This is way too clean. Thrash metal is supposed to be raw and dirty. This is too sterile.

Now Bonded by Blood still put together some decent songs and the riffs are still razor-sharp. The band obviously knows how to thrash. It is a little unfortunate that they were unable to take that step forward again after a terrific second album. I am a thrash metal fan and will likely continue to listen to Bonded by Blood because they do a lot of things very well. Unfortunately this album will likely not win them many new fans.

One more note, the Rage Against the Machine cover is terrible.

Bonded by Blood still craft some good moments, but this is not a step forward from their last album.

Field Guide to Retro-Thrash Metal Bands

I am a fan of thrash metal. I believe I have made that fairly clear throughout this blog. Retro Thrash has emerged in recent years, and though it's day in the sun is receding somewhat, I felt it would be a good idea to expose some of the groups for those seeking out new metal.

BONDED BY BLOOD
Habitat: Pomona, California
Defining Audio Characteristics: Early Exodus gone progressive metal
Best Output: Exiled to Earth

DEVASTATOR
Habitat: Somewhere in Florida
Defining Audio Characteristics: Blackened Thrash metal steamroller
Best Output: Nuclear Proliferation

EVILE
Habitat: Huddersfield, England
Defining Audio Characteristics: Middle-Period Slayer-style crunch on steroids
Best Output: Infected Nations

GAMA BOMB
Habitat: Newry, Northern Ireland
Defining Audio Characteristics: 1950's pulp sci-fi lyrics over Anthrax-meets-Suicidal Tendencies style party thrash
Best Output: Tales from the Grave in Space

LICH KING
Habitat: Amherst, Massachusetts
Defining Audio Characteristics: Goofy party thrash with a preference toward lyrics about zombies, sci-fi movies and cereal?
Best Output: Necromantic Maelstrom

MERCILESS DEATH
Habitat: Canyon Country, California
Defining Audio Characteristics: Dark Angel-style rifftastic thrash metal performing the soundtrack to a particularly gory George A. Romero movie
Best Output: Realm of Terror

NOCTURNAL FEAR
Habitat: Detroit, Michigan
Defining Audio Characteristics: The Motor City Sodom
Best Output: Code of Violence

SKELETONWITCH
Habitat: Athens, Ohio
Defining Audio Characteristics: Mastodon covering early Venom and Hellhammer
Best Output: Breathing the Fire

TOXIC HOLOCAUST
Habitat: Portland, Oregon
Defining Audio Characteristics: The bastard offspring of Hellhammer, Venom, and Bathory out for revenge against the society that spurned it
Best Output: An Overdose of Death

WARBRINGER
Habitat: Newbury Park, California
Defining Audio Characteristics: Brutal thrash in the vein of Demolition Hammer, Morbid Saint, and German bands meeting the sound of an epic tank battle
Best Output: Waking Into Nightmares

Initial Impressions: Bonded by Blood: Exiled to Earth

One of the trends we are seeing in this new retro-thrash scene is bands naming themselves after famous songs by other thrash metal bands. This is the most obvious example, this band is of course named after the landmark debut album by Exodus. Well, if you're going to have the gall to name yourself after a huge album like this, you better back it up with something special. Bonded by Blood present the thrash metal concept album. Huh?

The concept has something to do with life progressing 600 years after an atomic bomb decimated the planet and reduced the world's population. Interesting stuff, but nothing terribly original. We're basically talking about the plot of the Terminator movies crossed with the Matrix movies here. Still, at least they are taking a risk.

The music and vocals are pretty similar to the band who created their namesake. They play very fast, razor-sharp thrash metal with very precise riffs and harshly shouted vocals. There are also frequent gang vocals throughout just in case you forgot this band was influenced by Exodus. The riffs are catchy and fun and this album, despite it's more serious lyrical subject matter, is an upbeat and entertaining listen. There is anger that comes across in the music, but I would not qualify it as an angry album.

This is an entertaining album and is one of the better albums from the retro thrash movement. I actually do not have much of an issue with that scene at all, as a huge thrash metal fan. I like that bands are paying homage to the old guard, as long as they are not just mindlessly repeating what has already been done. Bonded by Blood provides enough of their own character to keep things going.