Nothing but the Truth

Every young person has to answer a fundamental question at some point. The answer can have far-reaching consequences in terms of lifelong happiness, endless wealth and good sex. The question is: do I want to play in a thrash metal band or not?

The four guys who make up the quartet called Spellbound have failed to answer this all-important question. "Nothing but the Truth" is a bit of thrash, a bit of traditional or power metal and - in terms of classic thrash metal albums - an excess of melodies. That's the first problem I have with the foursome's third album. The second is the arrangements. I can't for the life of me say that all the songs have a good flow. Sometimes it fits, sometimes everything seems awkward. But since this is not the debut of teenagers, I find this flaw relatively significant. Pure thrash grenades like the good "Shapeshifter" or “The Alliance of Spellbound” are in the minority on "Nothing but the Truth" and that's a pity. Some songs, such as "Warkult of Fire" also sound the alarm, but Spellbound often fail in details. In this song it's the powerless background vocals and the chorus that suffers from it. Worse still - it gets really nasty when a ballad appears in the middle of the track list, whose guitars could have come from the Scorpions at the beginning. All this leads to the fact that the overall work does not leave a homogeneous impression and that clouds the entire impression.

When the boys' aggression does need a musical outlet, it comes to stormy parts like at the beginning of "Broken Hope Society". But here, too, some of the energy fizzles out ineffectively, as neither the chorus nor the largely expressionless vocals are convincing. Unfortunately, it has to be said, Spellbound have rather settled in mediocrity than convince with outstanding acts. This seems to be a contagious disease, because even the old grand master of the wielded brush did not have his best day for the work on the artwork of this album. Ed Repka's painting looks relatively ridiculous, almost as if he had looked too often at his own, also only moderately successful work for Whiplash's "Unborn Again".

So minute after minute passes (a total of over 51 due to an additional – and useless – cover version of "Fireball") and the tension remains at a manageable level. Spellbound swing back and forth between old school approaches and modern mid-tempo sections without revealing a sustainable core competence. The craftsmanship is all right, the basic metal attitude is just as unquestionable. The relatively clean production can also be described as solid. This leads back to the basic problem mentioned above. The compositions and their arrangements lack class. Moreover, they lack energy as well. Watcg the video “Slayer live at the Dynamo 1985” onYT. That’s the essence of thrash and you will not find much elements of this violent storm on “Nothing but the Truth”. To be honest, I can't think of anything more to say about this acceptable yet lacklustre album, so the only thing left to mention is how I answered the essential question mentioned at the beginning for myself about 35 years ago. It was a clear, but given my minimal drumming skills, an incompetent yes.

While their first two records could hardly be dubbed impressive, Germans Spellbound have consistently proven to be purveyors of a fairly rare, lost art among the thrash crowd. That is to say, the full-package, dynamic songwriting style that birthed some of the largest names in the genre, Metallica at the foremost, but this was a skill often mirrored by other West Coast acts like Testament and at the very least attempted by bands worldwide, from Australia's Mortal Sin to England's Xentrix, to several of the Germans' countrymen, even if the faster, nastier Trinity of Teutonic Thrash held sway in that particular court. To be more specific, the composition's goals consist of big hooks, verse/chorus interplay, meticulously crafted leads that could hold their own with the rhythm riffing, enough of a neck jerking energy to keep them well within the genre's parameters, and approachable standards which held more of a mass appeal than the dirtnap speed and thrash existing on the niche's edge.

Nothing But the Truth accomplishes all of these to an extent, while rarely cocking up the formula that structures its more successful songs, a trait that sadly eluded the older efforts, which had only a scant handful of memorable cuts at best. The riffing is powerful, albeit familiar enough that a lot of the individual progressions will remind you of this or that and then twist it slightly away from the pure predictability a lot of us dread when listening to today's latest wave of pizza-thrashers. The leads here are very well balanced to offer an emotional payoff without completely outdistancing the blue collar, 'mellow' or melodic, mid-paced thrash rhythms that make up the bulk of the play length. When they pick up the thrust, you're remind purely of the picking patterns made famous by bands like Exodus, Testament or Metallica, but the overall mood here is 'steady wins the race', and that can often give this a laid back feel, sort of similar to New England's own Meliah Rage, only I feel like the writing here is a little more optimistic and immediately sticky on the ear. Reinforcing that comparison are the vocals of David Maier, melodic and edgy in the Hetfield vein which front men like Mike Munro, Chuck Billy and Mat Maurer ran off with.

The guitars sound great on this album, clear for the various leads, melodies and excess rock hero squeals while potent and punchy enough for a pit of intoxicated 40-somethings reliving their glory days, which I'd imagine might be the primary audience for this band, or those younglings who are trying to emulate that demographic. I happen to be among that first crowd, only somewhat less intoxicated on an average day, so I felt the pangs of nostalgia. Bass isn't a strong point here, but enough else is going on that you'll be distracted away from noticing, especially when the dozen or so really strong guitar riffs set off, forcing more replay value than I would have expected from my experience with either Nemesis 2665 or Incoming Destiny. There are a few slight misfires here, like the obligatory power-thrash ballad "Dying in the Dirt" which doesn't quite hit the payoff it wants to, however they aren't quite awful, and easily forgiven by the wealth of improvements they've made elsewhere. If you're into the more accessible spectrum of trad metal-tinted thrash I've mentioned above, or younger bands like Evile and After All, then this one is worth a listen.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com