This is speed metal from Boston, Seax are a band I have heralded from the beginning, this is their latest and fourth release to date. Having dabbled into pure speed metal on their last outing, they are definitely full on, head first into the sub-genre on this revitalising new album. When I say speed metal, I mean the classic stuff that is German and Canadian from the 80’s. I made a bit of a tit of myself when I spoke to the singer at a recent London gig, I said they were a great Canadian speed metal band, misconstrued when intoxicated, I was told they were from Boston, my subtle compliment obviously was interpreted differently in my head and missed out “sounded like”!
That aside, well this is full throttle, to use a well tried pun. As you delve deeper into this release you get an ever increasing positive reaction. The vocals on some of the tracks are high screams and “ow’s” like with a lot of younger bands now (although here they are quite quiet in the mix), then there are the group vocals that herald camaraderie and a warrior like mentality. ‘Killed by Speed’ is awesome, fast, Teutonic, aggressive. ‘Bring down the Beast’ is a sing along anthem and ‘Winds of Atomic Death’, well, it hits all the plus point. I could highlight most tracks from ‘Killed By Speed’ onwards, it’s simply a solid speed metal release that sounds better on a fully equalised sound system, headphones don’t cut it as you miss the bass.
Be under no illusion, we’re not talking uniqueness, we are talking classic speed metal. Gone are the other influences, this is a focused release of bare knuckle speed metal; it is exciting, invigorating and holds heritage high in it influence.
(8.5/10 Paul Maddison)
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