MINDWARS
“SWORN TO SECRECY”
Album Review By Iron Mathew
7/10
Mindwars are a thrash metal band, formed in 2013 by Mike Alvord (formerly of Holy Terror) and Roby Vitari (formerly of Jester Beast) with a vision to “rebirth the eighties”…blending the speed and thrash metal genres with rock and punk influences. The bands debut album was released in 2014 and the follow up, ‘Sworn To Secrecy’ was released in 2016.
‘The very word secrecy is repugnant in a free and open society, and we are as a people inherently and historically opposed to secret societies, to secret oaths and to secret proceedings…’ is the beginning of the infamous speech by former USA president JFK in 1961 in an attack on the press…and it is this speech extract which leads into the blistering opening song ‘Sworn To Secrecy’. Blasting like a rocket off its launch pad, ‘Sworn To Secrecy’ is full of pace and is thunderous as it rages on. Guitars scream and screech as ‘Sworn To Secrecy’ gallops along with urgency and a purpose, which carries on into ‘Cradle To Grave’. A blur of rampant rhythms and a frenetic guitar attack all topped off with a ferocious vocal delivery and Mindwars are setting the thrash metal scene alight…until the flames are doused as ‘Lies’ lollops in sounding more grunge than thrash. Still heavy, ‘Lies’ lacks the frenetic urgency of the opening two songs, swinging between its grunge influence and the bands thrash metal roots. Thankfully, pace is restored with the electrifying ‘Twisted’. An increase in aggression and a pummelling rhythm, ‘Twisted’ is a head bangingly addictive slab of thrash metal…crank it up and bang those heads.
A mellow guitar intro breathes life into ‘Helpless’, a slow burning song with a mid tempo stomp that becomes a high tempo stride. Guitars buzz and drums thunder as ‘Helpless’ defines the “it grows on you” concept. The opening riff to ‘Scalp Beauty’ buzzes like a rampant chainsaw and then shreds its way into a lightning quick barrage of brutality. Half way through the album, most of it has been thrash metal of the highest and fastest order, but there has been moments when it has almost fallen off the rails… ‘Rest Now (For Tomorrow Comes)’ lacks the thrash metal pace, but is a slow and heavy stomp featuring a near doom laden tendency. Your feet will be stomping hard along to this one. With a thankful smile, the album is returned to the glorious thrash metal style in the shape of ‘No Voice’, featuring a resemblance to the heavy chugging sound of US thrash metal veterans Megadeth.
With an atmospheric, tension building crescendo, ‘No Prophecy’ drags its feet as it strolls in and displays a much darker and moodier feel to the rest of the album. Not for head banging, ‘No Prophecy’ did leave me wondering where the early pace of the album has disappeared…just at the moment a sudden turn of speed turned ‘No Prophecy’ into a blistering blur of rage. A warm welcome back to thrash metal. ‘Release Me’ storms into view and features a resemblance to another US thrash metal veteran, this time Metallica. A scorching pace and a thunderous rhythm, ‘Release Me’ may sound like the title of a ballad, but believe me when I say this is at the opposite end of the metal spectrum. Bringing the album to a close is the heavy rock ‘Transporting’ displaying those grunge influences again. Mindwars are not a band afraid to experiment with their sound, most of ‘Sworn To Secrecy’ (the album) is thrash metal with the experimentation not enough to detract it from being categorised as a thrash metal album.
Overall, quick paced thrash metal blended with some slower, yet still very heavy songs to produce a roaming and meandering album of thrash and heavy rock.
TRACKLIST
Sworn To Secrecy
Cradle To Grave
Lies
Twisted
Helpless
Scalp Beauty
Rest Now (For Tomorrow Comes)
No Voice
Prophecy
Release Me
Transporting
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