ELECTRO CHARGED
“Reign Of Deception”
Album Review by Iron Mathew

9/10

Electro Charged are a heavy metal band from Greece formed in 2021, releasing their debut album ‘Reign Of Deception’ in 2024.

Founded by guitarist/vocalist Michael Sagiannis, the band line-up is completed by bass player Chris Dempegiotis (Myst) and drummer Thanos Karalis (Hard Disk Drive) – the bands debut a meld of eighties thrash and traditional heavy metal featuring eight songs across a thirty six minute run time. Opening with ‘Servants & Kings’, Electro Charged instantly emanate a black album era Metallica sound, striding on with elegant groove and a heart pounding rhythm! The band are straddling the genres of heavy metal and thrash, ‘Servants & Kings’ appealing equally to metallers and thrashers of all ages – I say all ages just because many listeners weren’t around at the time of Metallica’s black album, the American outfit taking the sound of thrash metal in a completely new direction! And remaining at the heavier end of the traditional metal genre, ‘Release The Hounds’ features more of the opening song’s incredible, and fairly irresistible groove – the band adopting a mid tempo menacing march!

A more “melodic thrash” approach to the album rather than the bands heavy metal tag would suggest, Electro Charged are pounding the ground hard, shaking buildings and crumbling walls with a brand of metal that’s emphatic and immediate – ‘Innocence’s Dead’ racing outta the blocks at top speed, dropping a few gears to assume a very heavy foot stomping attitude! The pummelling nature of ‘Innocence’s Dead’ hits like a jack hammer, the band belting every listener, fan and follower round the head with extreme savagery – but not too extreme, for the melodious intent of every song heard so far has kept the bands sound from taking permanent root in thrash metal territory! With an atmospheric mellowness to build tension, ‘Circle Of Life’ creeps in before launching headlong into the groove metal style we’ve gotten used to since ‘Reign Of Deception’ began – Electro Charged maintaining their traditional heavy metal come thrash metal swagger. And hitting harder than anything heard up to this point, ‘Into The Pits Of Hell’ sets off at blistering speed, the power doubling – no tripling – as the band roar forth with a phenomenal amount of energy! ‘Into The Pits Of Hell’ constantly changes tempo, oozing an uplifting nature that’s gonna see smiles a mile wide appear on the faces of everyone, Electro Charged delivering one of the best songs on offer.

The intensity of the album since it began has been captivating, the Greek outfit grabbing everyone’s attention and not letting go, the band marching on with the gear changing ‘Lord Of Sickness’ swerving its way through the genres of heavy metal and thrash – Electro Charged resuming their genre hopping boundary breaking journey of metal. A journey that’s not over yet, there’s still two more songs to come! The first of which ‘Tears Of A Cloud’, opens with an effects laden, mellow, and fairly chilling intro, the band creating an “incoming ballad” atmosphere – and I wouldn’t be far wrong either! For ‘Tears Of A Cloud’ remains at the lighter end of the heavy metal genre, Electro Charged inviting listeners to raise lighters in the air and sway from side to side. The eighth and final song on offer ‘Lethe & Mnemosyne’, is the only song on ‘Reign Of Deception’ to exceed the five minute mark, and after a short serene fuelled intro, the band hit the ground hard – harder than at any other time on the album! The vibrations from ‘Lethe & Mnemosyne’ can be felt all around the world, earthquakes forming everywhere as the band stomp heavily on to a finish! And just one more thing, ‘Lethe & Mnemosyne’ is an instrumental.

Overall, a groove led heavy metal album with plenty of thrash nuances, ‘Reign Of Deception’ is melodious and infectious.

TRACKLIST

Servants & Kings
Release The Hounds
Innocence’s Dead
Circle Of Life
Into The Pits Of Hell
Lord Of Sickness
Tears Of A Cloud
Lethe & Mnemosyne

https://electrocharged.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/electrocharged

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