Righteous Retribution

Toranaga Sama… who hasn’t heard of the legendary character from James Clavell’s blockbuster “Shogun”, the formidable Japanese ruler, fictional or real? Although I’ve never read the book, I watched the TV series starring Richard Chamberlain and Toshiro Mifune with great interest, twice, and when this band crossed my path some time in the late-90’s I was certain they were up to something good. And they were for sure as evident from their first two albums that appeared in the late-80’s, making it difficult for the fans to place them firmly next to the thrash metal cohorts from the Isles due to their less ordinary blend of power metal, Bay-Area thrash and a certain shade of doom, a style that became more fashionable later in the 90’s and was freely practiced by the Swedish practitioners (Hexenhaus, Pathos, Morgana Lefay, etc.).

However, our shoguns here were done before they could see/hear them, but the revived interest in the classic metal values at the dawn of the new millennium saw them raising their swords again in 2001. Alas, their belligerence didn’t amount to anything substantial as five years later they laid down the weapons once again, only to line up in full metal jacket in 2010, this time determined to leave a trace. And a trace they left, the album reviewed here.

The guys’ thrashy vigour is nicely reflected in the first couple of cuts which keep the Bay-Area influences alive, think Testament, above all, a mix of “Practice What You Preach” and “Souls of Black”, the belligerent chops of “Traitors Gate” gelling well with the roller-coaster playfulness of “Cynical Eyes”, with Mark Duffy’s vocals perfectly capturing the attached semi-clean charm of Chuck Billy. More serious excursions like “The Ultimate Act of Betrayal” create even more positive impression with their mixture of headbanging thrash and mellower balladic and power metal elements, reaching nearly progressive dimensions.

However, once the initial enthusiasm is gone, there’s not much to keep the listener hooked to the proceedings later as the middle is occupied by lengthy, one-dimensional power/doomy pieces with soulful doom/bluesy attempts (“Return of the Gods”) making the situation even more confusing. The speed (not so much thrash) is brought back by the hyper-active galloper “Prove Me Wrong”, but apart from the sharp cutting riffs on the appropriately-titled “Battle Cry” it has no much support from the remaining material the band either settling for friendly, sing-along heavy rockers (“Rise From The Flames”) or for somewhat dragging semi-balladic/doomy epicers (“I Play God”).

In the long run the blend achieved is not drastically different from the ones on the early instalments, and having in mind that the guys have never been the most overt thrash metal outfit out there, this effort is far from a flop or a failure. It’s just that the way it has been divided into two parts, with the more aggressive, respectively more attractive, material being placed a bit misleadingly at the beginning, it suffers from the lop-sided syndrome which could have been cured with a proper alternation between the two sides. On top of that, it all comes with a slightly noisy, abrasive guitar sound that may be viewed a defiant gimmick considering the still relevant at the time old school revival wave. Well, this latter tool is hardly a novelty (just think of Onslaught’s last few), and looking at what Cancer, Hellbastard, and Cerebral Fix did on their last outings, one shouldn’t pick on the shoguns as the worst offenders in their homeland. Besides, things can always be smoothed out on future showings as the shadow of Toranaga can’t possibly tolerate anything than the finest… or can it? The recapturing-of-the-throne saga is yet to be brought to its fair conclusion.