ARTHEMIS – Blood-Fury-Domination

The feel of this album hearkens back to the early days of Thrash Metal when the genre was being invented by sixteen-year-olds with too much energy and emotion who had no other way of expressing themselves. It isn’t production similarities; the sound of Blood-Fury-Domination is far cleaner than those early Thrash efforts. It’s more the spirit of the album that spawns nostalgia. On those first couple of records from bands like Metallica, Anthrax, and Death Angel, it didn’t matter if they were playing the darkest, fastest thing ever heard and laying lyrics about death, murder, war, and monsters over the top.

With each new track came the sense that these kids were having fun with their horrific material. That’s the sonic and spiritual link between Blood-Fury-Domination and its earliest descendants; this Italian band sounds like they are enjoying playing. The rhythms are exuberant and aggressive and founder Andy Martongelli’s fretwork is blistering and catchy. Vocalist Fabio Dessi has a classic Heavy Metal voice, equally adept and emotive on the trip hammer tunes as on his showcase track “If I Fall”, an excellent and only slightly out of place ballad among their ripcord Thrash.

The Thrash is what will keep listeners going back to the album, though. Leadoff single “Undead”, “Firetribe”, “Warcry”, and “Blood Red Sky” are the hardest hitting of the very strong track list.  After a few increasingly enjoyable listens, it’s worth going to their website to grab the free download cover of Lady Gaga’s “Paparazzi”. Seriously.

TUNE INTO METALEXPRESSRADIO.COM at NOON & MIDNIGHT (EST) / 6:00 & 18:00 (CET) TO HEAR THE BEST TRACKS FROM THIS UPCOMING RELEASE!!!