DELIRIOUS – Made For The Violent Age

German Thrash Metal outfit Delirious (N-O-T to be mistaken with the English Christian Rock band ‘Delirious?’) have been delivering the goods from northern Germany since 1990, and since then contributed with 3 studio albums including Made For The Violent Age — their first on Armageddon Music. They are scheduled to perform at Wacken, Monsters of Rock, and Ragers Elite Festivals this summer, making 2006 a remarkable year for them indeed.

Musical inspirations include Testament, Forbidden, and Heathen, as well as Gamma Ray, Nevermore, and Blind Guardian, and the music really is more melodic than average Thrash Metal. The opening track, aptly named “Intro,” shows signs of things to come, with some distant gunfire, a cold wind blowing, and a voice announcing the Violent Age before things really get going on track 2, “Triple Six,” which is straight to the point –- aggressive, groovy, and rather ill-tempered. Markus ‘Betty’ Bednarek (vocals) and Markus Keller (drums) single themselves out with great performances, and you won’t get disappointed as the record proceeds.

“I Am The Enemy” is also a rather quick and aggressive track with a quite catchy melody line. Same goes for “Call Me God” — another really great vocal melody to be found here, as well as some impressive guitar work from Alex Cwiertina and Andreas Supplie. It’s growing more and more obvious that the band are avid fans of Nevermore, both through the intense heavy riffing and acoustic introductions, like on the mid-tempo “Sleep In Peace” and on the fast and furious “Idiot Nation,” the latter being another track for ‘Betty’ to make his own mark with his outstanding voice, in addition to Christian ‘Spletty’ Splettstößer’s gnarly rock-bottom bass (which sounds remarkably like Jim Sheppard on the aforementioned tracks).

Still, the maniacal Germans have more to give. “Blood Begins To Freeze” carries signs of Hard Rock à la Turbonegro. “Hate Trader” may well be the most complex track on the album, with its numerous different expressions, stretching from another classic Thrash opening via catchy synth orchestrations to interesting harmonic guitar work, making it a fulfilled and impressive work of Metal. The power ballad “My Friends” shows yet another way of interpreting the increasingly versatile Germans, before Thrash returns with a loud kerrang via “Down On Myself.” You’ll be left, well, delirious, by the acoustic instrumental “The Sky Turns Red,” followed by the album’s fastest track, “Ragers Elite.”

A nicely done cover version of Iron Butterfly’s “In A Gadda Da Vida” rounds out the album, and one is left with the feeling that Delirious sooner or later are going to take that final step right up there –- these fellows are definitely gifted musicians, and with such a tight schedule as they have this year, you’re almost bound to bump into them sooner or later. If you enjoy versatile Thrash Metal, you may call them gods. If not, get violent.