This is the début album by the Swiss quintet, a thrash metal band and contain a member of Poltergeist, which turns out to be one unknown to me, as I only ever managed to pick up ’91s ‘Behind My Mask’. But that said, V.O. Pulver is involved in the recording, mixing and mastering of the album, along with doing some guest vocals on a track. They are however a very tight and competent unit with vocalist Lucie’s voice acting as a great focal point for Chasper and Sime’s guitars while Dani’s strong bass lines accompany them and form a bridge to Reto’s drums.
The fast drumming and quick changing of the guitar riffs on “The Oreinoi” are quickly joined by the harsh vocals which have a great touch of anger to their top pitch but it’s when Lucie throws in her clean vocals for the chorus that the contrasting harmonies work really well, as they shall for the remainder of the album.
The runaway guitar riff on “Age of Fools” forces the drums to rumble along behind them, with Chasper and V.O.’s shouting back at Lucie during the chorus leading well into the lengthy lead breaks.
The rather cleverly titled “Hurt People Hurt People” has some really low growls during the chorus before the far more allegro guitars are overshadowed by the vivacious leads.
Starting a song with a bass solo followed by a lead break is quite bold, but “1000 Places” does just that, as well as having a really melodic and sing-able chorus following the chant paced verses.
The lead frenzy that is the title track “LightCrusher” also has some seriously rapid guitar pieces, and it’s the swapping to and fro between clean and death vocals at lightning pace during the chorus that actually gives it an even more harmonious feel.
The extremely angry “Look at Me” is more mid-paced, therefore perhaps heavier as it rolls on to the much faster “They Feel Pain” with its galloping drums and higher pitched vocals.
“Sweet Revenge” is the longest song on the album and has a steady rhythm and tempo which allows the unhurried vocals to be clearly audible as Lucie spells out exactly how she’ll be extracting her vengeance.
Thilo Wanner adds his vocals to “Exoskeleton” as he and Lucie rage against each other, with her tone carrying an exasperated pitch to add to its fury.
“No Regrets” is a pretty straight up thrash song but still not as fast as “The One”, which would be an excellent way to end the album, if not for a bonus track…
I’ve never really been a fan of RATM, and can probably count the number of songs of theirs I know on my thumbs, but like pretty much everyone else, “Killing In The Name Of” just happens to be the one I actually know the title to. Sure, the song has been upgraded to be a tad faster and more aggressive, especially the vocals, with Frederyk Rotter adding his too, but the root of the song remains, making it easily identifiable. But the lack of whiney vocals is definitely the best bonus in regards to the track.
(7/10 Marco Gaminara)
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