Atheist Crusade

It must've been awkward for Immaculate to go back to the drawing board, only to find it'd been taken away by Drawing Board Protective Services. Thrash, Kill 'n' Deströy was a clamorous misfire on all cylinders; from the treble-heavy production that makes black metal demos sound like Herbie Hancock, to that atrocious umlaut. It wasn't quite on the same level as Thrash or Die's infamous Poser Holocaust, but they could probably see each other through a glass coffee table, if you catch my drift. So how the holy hell could Atheist Crusade possibly be worthwhile?

A pole-vaulting leap in the right direction, Immaculate has cleaned up their act and injected all of their compositions with speedball. Eccentric and bombastic, tracks possess organic flow despite constant fluctuations of range and tempo. With 'Sanity's Eclipse' and 'Atheist Crusade' both breaching the eight-minute mark, I was amazed to find them utilizing their time very well, and not just spinning their wheels.

Vocalist Mika Eronen's performance has also vastly improved since their debut. Despite eschewing all of his Ric Flair wooing from Thrash, Kill 'n' Deströy, Eronen proves he's still capable of inordinate soprano screams. Coming off as a more unhinged Jeff Scott Soto, Eronen manages some outrageous delivery particularly in 'Thrash Metal Avenger'. Despite being irrefutably ambitious, there's quite a reliance on reverb as well as frankly unnecessary choral shouts.

And as much as I personally appreciated the Street Fighter II reference from their previous album, I wish Atheist Crusade abandoned their goofy Gama Bomb shtick to concentrate on serious thrash. Not only does 'Thrashark' cling to comedy thrash's lovehandles, the opening riff itself sounds similar to Citizen Brain. With all the heightened maturity in the form of Fates Warning covers, and a decided lack of nonessential umlauts, you'd think Immaculate would be trying to distance themselves from the unfunny, uncreative bowels of pizza thrash.

If you're wondering why I haven't brought up their cover of 'The Apparition' until now, it's because there isn't much to comment on. I acknowledge the significance of The Spectre Within, but I was never that much of a Fates Warning fan. And by the sound of it, neither are Immaculate. Guitarists Ghanime and Vukovic sound bored out of their minds plodding away on a song composition that's clearly too slow for them, and Eronen sounds undignified and uncomfortable. I don't think the progressive epic suited itself to Immaculate's style at all.

So as to end on a good note, I maintain that Atheist Crusade is a comeback for the ages, and a damn fine slab of thrash metal overall. Bursting at the seams with creativity and verve, I'll be secularly praying that lightning can strike twice for Immaculate.