album reviews

"The Onslaught," the debut from Wisconsin thrashers Lazarus A.D. was, to speak plainly, brilliant. So it was with great anticipation that the metal universe greeted the coming of the band's follow up, "Black Rivers Flow." This new effort is similar but ever so different from its predecessor and equally masterful in its own right.

For a band so comparatively young, Escape the Fate has been through the wringer, back again, and still find themselves able to conjure up their third, eponymous album.

What’s striking about this new effort is that from a musical standpoint, “Escape the Fate” is the album that Rob Zombie should have released in place of “Educated Horses.” There are enough heavy, chugging, downbeat riffs that could be isolated and restacked into a convincing Zombie simulacrum.

What seems like a lifetime ago, I can remember sitting in my college radio station and giving Stratovarius a shot. I had of course heard and read much from friends and in publications, but as a kid growing up in the whitewashed suburbs of New York State’s capital city during the days before downloadable music, Stratovarius albums eluded me.

Sometimes, you get bored with eating filet mignon. Prosciutto with melon loses its kick, you grow weary of truffles, you get tired of fine wine and you can't stomach anymore decadent crème brûlée. Sometimes, all you desire and the only thing that will give you satiety is to trundle over to the local greasy spoon and choke down the drippiest, greasiest, densest cheeseburger on the menu.

So it is with Shroud Eater.