The Age of Entitlement

Don't you just love it how sometimes an album can prove you wrong?
'Guess what, it was great all the time you just didn't get it yet'.
Well, that goes 'The Age of Entitlement''. How wrong I was, discarding it back in 2019!

Why then did I not enjoy it back in 2019? If I recall correctly it was mostly because 2019 Acid Reign did not sound like 1989 Acid Reign. Yeah, go figure. Eighties Acid Reign was more openly quirky. It had a 'fun' edge which made some people call them the UK Anthrax. There's hardly any of that, at first listen that is. It's there, it's just more hidden and subtle.
(I even wish 2019 Anthrax would've been as cool as Acid Reign in 2019 but unfortunately Anthrax have become a solid but rather tame dadmetal band.)

2019 Acid Reign is darker, more angry yet somehow more melodic. There's a lot of 'angry thrash' going on here (just try 'Sense of Independence' for instance). A song like 'Ripped Apart' even sounds as if co-written with Overkill. It has that vibe. Some riffs on '#newagenarcissist' and 'My Peace of Hell' actually remind me of Exodus.

But the album is perfectly balanced out with lighter moments or even melodic moments that have a strong nineties vibe. The 'Hate you, can’t face you, can’t live without you' pre-chorus on 'The New Low'is a great example. It is a midpaced thrash song but with such a melodic pre-chorus without taking anything away from the energy this song has. Remarklable achievement. And they pull that off plenty of times on this album.

At first this new approach on some songs made me frown but as the years passed and I got to know these songs, they practically became family. And whereas I get tired with plenty of music eventually, this albums just keep growing on me.

There's even a 'punk' song on the album. Funny thing, it is a Suzanne Vega cover. A song by a 20th century urban folk artist who make a surprisingly electronic album (99.9F°) back in 1992. And in the hands of a thrash metal band it turns out punk. How could I not love this! Yet somehow it fits perfectly on the album.

The chorus to 'United Hates' alone is worth getting this album for. Melodic yet so damn strong. especially because it's on a furious fast paced thrasher. Making the song so damn memorable. What about the vibe 'Hardship' has? A lot of retro thrash metal bands can learn from this. Those vocal melodies. They just drag you in. So powerful. I must admit the middle section with guitar solo sounds productionally like Metallicas's And Justice album but perhaps that was intentional. No complaints here. It sounds perfect!

What Acid Reign have achieved here is mixing several influences and eras and made it sound like the most normal thing in the world. Not many bands in metal can pull that off so easily.

Wow, H is back… I don’t mean the H-bomb, relax, but Mr. Howard Smith, the mastermind behind a very obnoxious arcane outfit known as Acid Rain... sorry, Reign. The band who pulled a most swift disappearing act in the early-90’s after leaving the worst of them (a compilation, 1991) behind for us the fans to munch on. Interestingly enough, Smith was the only musician of the old line-up who never got involved in any other musical formation… and for a good reason since there was hardly even a tiny vestige of obnoxious aftertaste left from the band’s excellent sophomore.

A fair swansong by all means which even hinted at possible more sterile, also relevant transformations the latter left hanging hypothetically in the aether as the musicians went their separate ways shortly after. But sometimes they come back, as you all know; in fact, they started coming back so rapidly in the new millennium that before you know it, it was all the moshing/thrashing 80’s once again. Happy times for sure that could only get spoilt by something truly obnoxious, like the return of Acid Reign, for instance; and boom, here he was, Smith, back on the circuit in 2015 with a new plan (of the damned) which he revealed through small instalments, one-track singles to be more precise, released on regular two-year intervals. A meticulous mathematical individual who has gathered entirely new comrades for its realisation.

This new comradeship is not exactly a gathering of novices as we have musicians who have done, and still do, service in other, both contemporary and veteran, formations like Rogue Male, Mpire of Evil, Kremated, etc. Not exactly strangers to thrash cause by-and-large this new outing is about the good old thrash and very little else. But let’s stay on Smith for a bit more: I’ve always liked his attached clean vocals but here the man outdoes himself in every department, leading the show with confidence and panache, sounding both attached and rowdy in equal measure, inspiring his colleagues to come up with one of the undisputable highlights on the thrash metal circuit for the year 2019.

It’s no small feat this one, way more convincing than the comeback efforts of the man’s compatriots Xentrix, Onslaught, Seventh Angel, Toranaga… and it’s not exactly “Onboxious Revisited”, either, as some vigour from their more stripped-down debut is surely at play with the hyper-active "The New Low" and "Sense of Independence" stirring passionate moshpits in no time, the boosted guitar sound helping the more complex material ("#newagenarcissist") more. Heavy steam-rollers (the fittingly-titled “Hardship”) haven’t been forgotten, bringing the Richter Scale to mind with their squashing march, but it’s on the progressive multifarious thrashing on “Within the Woods" where the guys truly reveal their greatness, the frantic tech-thrasher "United Hates" nicely hinting at a more adventurous song-writing which even the sophomore skipped on. The obligatory goofy joker ("My Peace of Hell") is also here, a merry thrash/crossover jump-arounder that would remind of the guys’ compatriots Lawnmower Deth.

A really cool varied package, a walk over several sectors from the thrash spectre, a somewhat expected conglomerate with it being a comeback stint and all. Not by me, though, as I don’t know why I was positive that the band would vote to follow-up on the “obnoxious” recording with another contrived prog-thrash behemoth… well, they didn’t but what they offer here is more than welcome, an old school thrash parade which would make a wide range of fans happy, and not only the old ones. Smith sounds revitalized, and it seems as though a royal status this time may indeed become a reality for him. The times are not exactly acid right now, but no one knows what changes a sudden acid rainfall might bring, for the music industry and mankind in general.

2019 has been a great year for metal. In March, Overkill released The Wings Of War, their 19th studio album (19th!!!), which retained their ridiculous winning streak. Also, Death Angel, Slipknot, Xentrix, Eradikator and Sacred Reich, to name but a few, released damn fine albums to keep metal fans in raptures. Even the mighty Tool graced us with a new release after 13 years!

However, 13 years is NOTHING compared to the wait for this band’s new album. The band in question are Acid Reign and they released their last full length studio album, Obnoxious, in 1990. Bloody good it was, too. But, shortly after, thrash metal trundled to a halt and the wheels came off for many a band, Acid Reign included.

And that was that. Except it wasn’t. In 2015, frontman Howard “H” Smith rebooted the band, recruited 4 new members and released the corking comeback single, “Plan Of The Damned“, revealing a more mature, more rounded, heavier and tighter band than before.

A 6 date UK Reboot tour followed – much to the delight of AR fans old and new – and in 2017, another single, “The Man Who Became Himself“, was released and proved to be another solid indication that Acid Reign were tapping into a well of creativity. Then talk of a new album emerged, exciting the thrash masses further more and when a track from the album, “The New Low”, dropped back in August, everyone’s appetite was whet all the more!

Then The Age Of Entitlement arrived. But was it worth the wait? In short, HELL YES!!

What we have here are 8 and a bit new tracks and a rather funky, punky cover of a Suzanne Vega song. It’s interesting to see that neither “Plan Of The Damned” or “The Man Who Became Himself” feature on the album. This decision makes the singles even more ‘special’ and the album even better. New tracks, no filler!

The Age Of Entitlement opens with T.A.O.E. (wonder what that stands for…?), a mid tempo, riff heavy instrumental intro that promises great things to come. It’s not wrong either, as the next track is the previously dropped “The New Low” and it’s a modern thrash classic in the making. Heavy, angry, pacy, home to a catchy as fuck chorus…..”H” also sings a bit here, the boy can croon when he wants to! An excellent start.

With “NewAgeNarcissist” the pace increases again. Featuring a strong message about those tosspots who live on, and live for, social media popularity, “H” sounds positively feral (as he does throughout) and “My Peace Of Hell” continues this high-speed ferocity. This is proper headbanging stuff and packs another formidable chorus. These really are incredibly well structured songs and should delight fans of old-school thrash.

“Blood Makes Noise” is the Suzanne Vega cover and Acid Reign really do the song justice. The original is a mid tempo, funky, boppy, little ditty and Acid Reign have turbocharged this song and given it a real thrashy, punky feel; while still doffing a respectful cap to the original version. An able companion to AR’s renowned cover of Blondie’s “Hanging On The Telephone”, it’s a fun 2 minutes and we can hear why Ms Vega got in touch with the boys to give it her official thumbs up.

It’s fair to say that the quality of the production and the sheer songwriting prowess found all The Age Of Entitlement has resulted in a truly fantastic, superbly constructed, album. It must also be said that the rhythm section of Marc Jackson on drums and Pete Dee on bass is utterly superb. They create a solid foundation for “H”, Cooky and Paul to do their thing. And they all do their thing exceptionally well!

In actuality, The Age Of Entitlement has exceeded all expectations and then some. This is an outstanding modern thrash record and it deserves to sell by the fuckin’ truckload.

Originally published on worshipmetal.com

With a truckload of modern trite penned by the once-magnificent Aftermath, Xentrix, and Toxik, I'm starting to think thrash metal is no country for old men. Then again, if the NWOTM scene is any indication, it doesn't seem like a country for young men, either. Acid Reign attempts to be an exception with their 2019 comeback The Age of Entitlement, and frankly they're an easy band to root for. They were always a bit of an underdog, like many UK thrash bands, and speaking as a full-time worker with no social media presence nor any desire to be loved by everyone on the planet, I found their opinions on my generation pretty quenching.

This album has some other things going for it, too. A wide range of perky riffs have a malcontented bounce in their step, often boasting a few ostentatious setpieces to keep you engaged. The spicy guitar flourishes are especially welcome in the album's more exhaustive epics like '#newagenarcissist' and the peculiarly horror-themed 'Within the Woods'. Overall, it cuts a consistently energetic pace, and its guitar tone is satisfyingly #thicc, unlike that shrinkwrapped sound blighting so many other modern thrash albums of the last decade. This results in an album that's remarkably easy to power through, with uncomplicated ideas and a pretty convincing delivery. I would even go so far as to say this album is "beginner friendly" for people trying to get into thrash metal.

This "too cool for school" attitude mostly works in its favor, but not in terms of vocals and drum patterns. Vocals strike me as very passive, with an all-purpose shout never calling much attention to itself, reminding me of many NWOTM airballs like Hatchet and Hyades. Drumming is similarly status quo, offering little in the way of engaging fills or polyrhythms. In fairness, this is in keeping with the rest of the songwriting, and indeed Acid Reign's trademark sound of yore, but it leaves mid-tempo malingerers like 'My Peace of Hell' and 'United Hates' sounding pretty stagnant.

And yes, the track titles are pretty good indicators of the type of lyrics you're in for as well. Think Cyclone Temple but even less subtle. Despite this, Acid Reign managed to impress me with a stable of competent, digestible thrash anthems that resemble their own source material a lot more than crapola like Kinetic Closure. But maybe that's not enough to compel you, you stubborn boomer/lazy millennial/self-obsessed zoomer.