SKULL FIST - Chasing The Dream
March 3, 2014, 10 years ago
(NoiseArt Records)
Lovable Toronto-based, retro reprobates return with another slab of traditional metal for those (like the band members themselves) that missed the birth of the genre, back in the 80s, before sub-genre labels fragmented the scene. There’s several different “styles” on display here. For those, like myself, who can fondly recall that era, the thrashy riffs, high pitched, nasal vocals and fun-loving sensibilities are a blast from the past, albeit brand spanking new. ‘Hour To Live’ chugs like a runaway locomotive: great opening track! Similar minded ‘Mean Street Rider’, like the lead-off cut, features plenty of soloing atop the speedy, piston pumping rhythms. Elsewhere, ‘Shred’s Not Dead’ is an instrumental and ‘Bad For Good’ is a slower option, a GRIM REAPER style metal ballad (before MTV polluted the concept), seemingly lifted from an early Metal Blade compilation. Who says you have to be innovative or offer something new to get noticed? Thousands of Germans can’t be wrong. Fresh nostalgia!
