The Resilience

In the interest of full disclosure, it should be noted that the author of this review is a shameless fanboy of the long defunct Disney Afternoon cartoon Talespin. Using several key characters from the older novel that the same company later adapted into an animated film The Jungle Book, this post-WWI themed adventure flick where anthropomorphic animals are experts in aeronautics featured the visual of arch-villain Shere Khan as a sort of ambivalent corporate robber-baron figure, not all that different from the visual that adorns the cover of French modern thrashers Heart Attack's second studio effort The Resilience. Whether this commonality was a sheer coincidence or not is tough to say, but the visual of a tiger in charge of major industry is a fitting illustration of thrash metal's generally hostile relationship with business oligarchs, though the direction that this outfit takes is a bit closer to where the likes of Machine Head or Pro-Pain might take their protests, if the former was a bit more competent and the latter a bit less one-dimensional.

Given that this style of thrash metal, which features a fair amount of groove trappings inherited from Exhorder's and Pantera's seminal 1992 studio offerings, is a bit prone to redundant minimalist riffing and one-dimensional yet exaggerated gruff vocals, the difference is usually made up around the fringes. In other words, the difference between a plodding celebration of boring repetition and a powerful display of modernized aggression usually rests in the detailing surrounding the riff work. In this regard, Heart Attack prove to be a cut above most as they tend to minimize a lot of the more grating elements of the style such as oddly placed harmonics, overuse of spoken/whispered vocals, and stagnant 2-note chug riffs. Most of the songs on here tend to be more up tempo, while the slower sections tend to avoid the droning broken chords that gave Burn My Eyes that limp grunge rock formula that sunk much of said album. Likewise, melodic sections and ballad moments are used fairly sparingly, and the vocal work doesn't bother with bad Layne Staley impersonations or yarl-based nonsense and leans a bit closer to a mid-ranged snarl that is halfway between death metal and hardcore.

The songs generally tend to sound a bit similar to one another, as the guitars tend to center around a particular lower tuning level where heaviness tends to trump variation or development, and the rhythm section generally sticks towards fairly traditional mid-paced and fast thrash patterns. The lead guitar work is one nice area where things are a bit atypical, as Chris Cesari is a bit more of a Kirk Hammett meets Alex Skolnick fan than a Dimebag Darrel imitator, resulting in lead breaks that are a bit more tuneful and provide a needed contrast with the generally percussive character of the riffs, beats and vocals. Nevertheless, there are some moments of down tempo grooving mixed with violent, almost death metal-like mayhem that rounds out "Congrats To People", which also happens to have a rather peculiar melodic bridge halfway through that almost turns the song into an emulation of The Crown; definitely a standout among the pack here. "Sound And Light" manages some particularly vicious riff work and machine gun precision from the rhythm section as well, and the technically proficient "Disorder" also sees some flirtation with melodeath territory.

This is an album that definitely provides a nice, fast-paced alternative to the heavily retro 80s mode of thrash metal that has been fairly popular over the past 10 or so years, while definitely sticking close enough to the basic tenants of the overall style to avoid being lumped in with the Machine Heads and Skinlabs of the world. It even takes occasions to showcase a somewhat progressive take on the style, such as the long-winded instrumental of a title song that closes the album off. This is the sort of music that Robb Flynn could be putting out if he hired a more competent vocalist and tried to avoid all the nu-metal and mainline rock radio pandering that generally causes him to either write incoherently or dumb his music down. It wouldn't be too much of a stretch to dub this thrash metal for fans of melodic death metal, as the lines that separate the two are frequently blurred here. It may prove advantageous to check this album out soon, whether one wishes to stick it to the tigers of industry or simply enjoy some good, neck-ruining thrash.