Genre - Heavy/Thrash Metal
HERETIC were another one of the many bands that existed
in the eighties that were criminally overlooked for one of many reasons. Their debut
(and until now only) album for me was always one I considered ‘up there’ with
the classics of US Heavy Metal. Indeed for any self respecting fan of ripping,
snarling eighties metal “Breaking Point” is a must have; find me a metal fan
who can resist the manic assault of that opener
and you’re a better man than I. It was only after a brief obsession with METAL
CHURCH did I ever find out of their existence, namely due to the fact HERETIC
was the stage in which vocalist Mike Howe launched his career, later going on
to replace the illustrious David Wayne in the aforementioned METAL CHURCH.
Reunions of classic bands after a long period of time are
always a sticking point with me, more often than not it’s either a blatant cash
cow or simply a bunch of crusty old has beens pining for their youth, something
which I believe has only been exacerbated by the internet era with a lot of
more overlooked/underground bands gaining exposure who would not have otherwise
done so. Sometimes it’s just best to let these things die, though thankfully
from what I’ve heard from “A Time of Crisis” it certainly comes across as
something a bit more genuine than an assemblage of nostalgia and fervent
desperation.
Fair enough the only consistent member present is Brian
as Julian gave way to Mike for the debut, but Angelo and Glenn certainly slot
in well enough alongside these two. With opener ‘Tomorrow’s Plague’ and its socio-political
driven verve with its hefty guitar tone and simplistic structure you can pretty
much set the scene here for the rest of the album. It’s all much the same, with
some peaks and troughs along the way; ‘Betrayed’ is another great track in a
somewhat similar vein, chunky and riff driven and although the guitar tone does
appear ‘modernized’ to some extent it never steers close to groove territory
thankfully. By the fourth track though it all begins to blur together and
exposes their rather simple blueprint. Not that it’s bad, it’s just well... a
bit exhausting.
‘For Your Fate’ is a pretty fucking poor song, there’s no
two ways about it, a cringe inducing horrorfest of clichéd, anti-religious spiel
with a dreadfully basic structure; but the biggest faux pas with “A Time of Crisis”
lies with the re-recording of ‘Heretic’. Just fucking no. There are some songs
which should just be left alone, and this is a prime example. Julian’s vocals
just don’t compare to Mike and they don’t suit the song at all, resulting in a
pale imitation of what is arguably the best track the band have ever written.
Still though, “Child of War” ups the ante considerably in what is probably the
best track on the album, an energetic and crushing Motorhead-esque piledriver
that shows when the band really let loose, they can actually sound pretty
fucking killer and get the necks moving. ‘Police State’ hammers on with the
same tenacity and tasteful soloing and that ever present thick, choppy riffing
and ‘The End of the World’ closes the album on a positive note, another
impressive number with thunderous drumming and guitar set to overdrive.
It’s clear Brian has shifted the emphasis in HERETIC to
heaviness rather than the classic Power/Thrash sound they used to deliver, and
while there are plenty of great moments to be heard on “A Time of Crisis”, it
does come across at times as a touch sterile, by no means helped by the fact
that Julian just isn’t the vocalist he was back on “Torture Knows No Boundary”.
I suppose it’s to be expected somewhat but at time’s he sounds really badly out
of tune and strained. It doesn’t compare at all to “Breaking Point” but is certainly
an acceptable comeback. I’ve heard much much worse and with songs like ‘Child of
War’ that will keep you hitting the repeat button, there’s definitely some
replay value to be had, and that’s the important thing.
7/10
Sounds like - Metal Church, Reverend
Originally written for The Metal Observer
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