For Freedom I Cry

We all know there are hundreds upon hundreds of lost and forgotten thrash bands out there from decades long past, especially the late 1980's when the boom was at it's highest; every young metalhead wanting to become the next Metallica and whatnot. It's safe to say that the majority of those bands never even made it farther than a mere opening slot on a semi-extensive tour with even a second rate thrash band, and Acridity might have been one of those bands.

Many bands barely made it to popular status, and as the case it seems with Acridity, they released a debut and called it quits. There are no obvious influences from an initial listen, this is traditional thrash in every sense; much like the sped up NWOBHM ilk, but with a thrashier flare; easily sticking in on a bill with Metallica, Overkill and even early Testament. This is quite simple thrash, it's riffs upon riffs, a pounding bass, and of course the solos. They're all there; where's the vocalist in this mix? This is the weakest link, he's not exactly terrible, it's just all blueprint thrash. There is no emotion in his voice, no overt usage of energy, he's just barely singing/grunting out the words. It's passable and tolerable, but c'mon.. it's like he's barely trying.

The songs here as an album, are strong with solid thrasher at neckbreak speed each time with loads of chunky riffs and that oh so powerful rhythmic double bass/bass guitar gallop. The lead work here isn't too fancy, sometimes reminding me of Overkill, without any unnecessary solos and such, playing it safe and allowing more room for heavy riffing. It's especially noticeable on Countdown to Terror with the lead work opening the song, but then quickly going back to more riff work. The songs aren't exactly standout, rather sticking together for a solid album making combination. It's hard to choose one from the other; the vocalist lacks the power to take command of your filthy ears and make you chant out a chorus of any kind. The riffs are memorable and fun to headbang to, but in the end it's still lacking.

Production-wise, For Freedom I Cry is a solid chunk of thrash reminding me of a less progressive version of Heathen and moreso the type early Anthrax/Overkill employs; riff-based and heavy. Acridity have a knack for creating songs that hold your interest, but it's hard to pick and choose a certain song being better than another, especially with the majority of the song lengths being quite long. Denied Right however sticks out the most, with an unrelenting pace of solid riff based thrash that keeps you hooked at a fast speed. So with this debut, Acridity have joined the ranks of the hundreds of forgotten thrash bands that came out of the woodwork in the late 80's and released some solid thrash. With the work shown here, it's fairly obvious why they have been so forgotten; but for a die hard thrash fan, there is something to be found here and can be enjoyed for a few listens especially if you can get past the first few songs (this is by far a bottom heavy album, the first 4 songs are total throwaways).