I thought long and hard before I cowered in the presence of the lord high priest of Ave Noctum’s sacred citadel and genuflected in his presence and asked his unholiness if I may be able to review this, Acid Reign’s, first album in almost 24 years. I thought long and hard because I have a long and colourful history with these Harrogate thrashers. I was (am) slightly sceptical given my previous love of Acid Reign back in the day, of the motives behind the reunion a few years ago which were accompanied with a smattering of small club dates, a new single here and there and the odd festival appearance.
Was this just a cheap and easy excuse to make a few bucks, trade on the current (or not) thrash revival that has seen everyone from Sacred Reich, Onslaught, Xentrix and Lawnmower Deth, take to the nostalgia stage, peddle out a few tried and trusted audience favourites, sell a few t-shirts and then fuck off to Marbella for a well earnt rest? It’s probably justified to look at Acid Reign’s return through these jaundiced glasses…BUT….it was during a now legendary headline set at Bloodstock on the Sophie stage a few years ago that convinced me otherwise. The set, crammed as it was with fan favourites, sounded vital somehow, precision guided thrash metal missiles detonating over the seriously over worked security team as the pit swelled and the stage divers resembled the great Falls of Braan salmon migration of 1912 (made up).
Point being, this current incarnation (no original members remain aside from vocalist H) are better players, tighter and heavier than the previous incarnation of Acid Reign. The new album doesn’t reinvent the wheel and stays firmly within the train tracks of 80/90’s thrash metal but played with noughties sensibilities. The drums are prime era Megadeth, double bass pummelling and snapping snare, the guitars big, bold and crunchy and H’s trademark vocal delivery takes center stage alongside the supporting gang vocals. It sounds sprightly, heavy and features some pretty decent guitar histrionics courtesy of Paul Chantler and Cooky. It’s not all gravy, some of the songs, especially ‘My Blood Noise’, feel a little flat and unsure of themselves in terms of the song structure and vocals, almost as if the band have tried to deviate a little too far from their own playbook and it doesn’t quite work.
Despite that, the album, in general, is a decent body of work. At times it sounds very much like ‘We Have Come For You All’ era Anthrax (no bad thing to be honest seeing as it’s the last decent thing Anthrax released). The production is big and bold, with the guitars really snapping with crunch and as previously mentioned the drumming from Marc Jackson is exemplary. A lot of Acid Reign’s popularity back in the day could be put down to frontman H’s infectious stage persona and general piss taking of the crowd, which always led some to believe that the bands’ jovial attitude meant they weren’t ever really considered as one of the UK’s premium thrash bands back in the day. Some of that may be true, but if anything, this album seems to distance itself from self-parody and comedy and feels more serious and to the point.
It will be interesting to see where this leads Acid Reign and whether this album leads to a full-scale revival (their signing up to the K2 live agency who also represent Metallica, Slayer and Anthrax amongst others) would suggest that the boys are back for the foreseeable future. ‘The Age of Entitlement’ represents a solid return for Harrogate’s most famous sons and whilst this release doesn’t quite capture the youthful thrashings of say ‘Moshkinstein’ or ‘The Fear’, this is a pretty decent statement of intent. If the band can keep its line-up in place, a few years on the road could well see Acid Reign return to and surpass previous career highs especially with an album that features highlights such as ‘The New Low’ and ‘Ripped Apart’. If this album (and those two songs in particular) represent the future of Acid Reign, then the future looks very bright indeed.
(7.5/10 Nick Griffiths)
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