I’ll admit I had my reservations diving into this crazy record. Here we have some of the loudest screamers in metal with Tim “Ripper” Owens, Harry Conklin, and Sean Peck teaming up for a full-on metal assault. Now whenever we swim in waters with these all-star bands; it usually ends up as a lot of hype with little payoff. Things are different with this one however, as this debut from the aptly named Three Tremors is an over-the-top affair with these three destroyers trying to outdo one another. It’s crazy, nutty, spine-tingling, and I love that these dudes didn’t take themselves too seriously and just had a ton of fun with it.

There are screams galore that are going to melt your face; the opener “Invaders From The Sky” encapsulates the high-energy power / speed metal found throughout, but listen to those mean riffs. The backing band for this are the boys from Peck’s band, Cage and anyone who listens to them know they can play their ass off. If the music and guitar parts were weak, then the vocal theatrics wouldn’t matter and this would be a mediocre listen, but thankfully there was careful construction of the monsters that fortify this record. Listeners are going to love the Mercyful Fate like “Bullets For The Damned” or the Iced Earth type gallop of “When The Last Scream Fades” (bonus points for a great song title). I particularly enjoy the chorus lyric “I have to scream”; like they had no choice to sing this way. 

With lyrics based in fantasy like the mid-paced, rollicking Thor stomper “Wrath Of Asgard” or the trembling and speeding eruption “King Of The Monsters” there are lots of flavors to taste on this platter! Aside from a one exception (the thumping “Sonic Suicide”, this record is repentless with the tempo, keeping it fast-paced and in-your-face. It would have been a disservice to keep this mired in mid-tempo hell. The thrashy “The Cause”, the rapid fire of “Lust Of The Blade” and exuberant “Pit Shows No Mercy”, relating the experiences of moshing should be engaging live tracks. To change the proceedings up a bit, the Tremors utilize the Iron Maiden type buildups that break out into full speed metal blazers like “Speed To Burn” and the WWII remembrance of “Fly Or Die”. A filthy riff compliments the eponymous closing track that fits perfectly with their moniker and features the line “we are here to make you feel alive.” Truer words were never spoken.

It might be early, but I can safely say this will be a top album of 2019. I absolutely enjoy how over-the-top and ear-shattering this record is. It’s unique and the music is just as ferocious as the singing. When going into this you have two choices – try and kill yourself by replicating the incredible range of these vocalists or you can safely play air guitar and headbang mercilessly. Choose wisely!