Eyes of the Guardians

No, no need to exercise any here, as this is a time-proven batch, having started their career in the distant now 1995. This first instalment wasn’t much to talk about as it was emulating the ruling trends down to the –T-, a derivative power/post-thrash recording which produced no miracles whatsoever in any department. The sophomore was way more convincing, the band adding a hefty doze of hard-hitting thrash to their already epitomized groovy skeleton, the final therapy definitely on the positive side. “Diseased” even introduced some classic elements into the modern thrash melee, setting the scene for the diverse more complex “As Above So Below”, the guys’ magnum opus, and one of the better retro/modern thrash hybrids to emerge out of Germany in the new millennium.

“Synchronicity” was a letdown, the band taking it easy with simplistic moshing riffs provided on top of less convincing trudging mid-tempo ones, the biggest novelty being the girl behind the mike, the name Daniela Karrer, the former vocalist of the compatriots and fellow thrashers Uppercut, a throaty deathly shouter reminiscent of Angela Gossow (Arch Enemy). She leads the show on this comeback stint of sorts as it’s been over a decade since the band’s last outing.

The guardians’ eyes are directed towards the modern thrash sector once again, the explosive “Burned (One by One)” propelling the mosh vehemently supported by the title-track and the Arch Enemy-sque shredder “Ground Zero”. The guys (and a girl) calm down (the temperate melo-thrasher “Scars of Damnation”, the pensive “The Impenetrable Maze”) on occasion, but there’s nothing stopping the short ripping ”Divide et Impera”, “Veins of the Earth” another assured headbanger, the more ambitious meandering vistas on “Under a Blood Red Sky” still roaming next to the more dynamic side of the spectre. The actual respite here comes at the very end, a near-invisible cut titled “Invisible”, a creepy anti-climactic but fairly effective epitaph with morose patiently-woven rhythms.

Karrer spares no one, herself included, her intimidating shouts keeping the posers miles away, the girl making sure she aggravates the quieter moments from the opus, the mentioned closer in particular. This is way better than the preceding meeker entry, the band feeling more comfortable staying closer to the modern thrash parameters, also not willing to upgrade their delivery to a more intricate one. It by no means reaches the inspired musicianship and the calculated complexity of “As Above So Below”, but is a fairly decent outing that even manages to deal with predictability on a few occasions. More of those on the next effort, please, although it’s not known when that one would see the light of day: the musicians, save for Kapper, are busy with the death metal cohort Deny the Urge… I don't know, I’ve always thought the urge for thrash takes the upper hand in every household, especially the ones in Lower Saxony.