VIKING - No Child Left Behind
May 12, 2015, 9 years ago
(Independent)
Reformed So-Cal thrash outfit have issued their third album, the first since the initial pair, in the late Eighties. They toured America last year and plan to do the same this Spring. While original guitarist/high-pitched, off-kilter shouter Ron Eriksen is still around, he's augmented the impressive/current line-up with the Human Drum machine, Gene Hoglan and former Dark Angel bassist Daniel Gonzalez. Given the pedigree, don't expect Big Four melodies, rather rough-edged cross-over, hardcore tinged pit swirls.
In the continued re-writing of history, thanks to cryonic awakening/re-emergence of Violence, Nuclear Assault, Mordred and Viking (amongst others), original, middle-of-the-pack evaluations be damn. Well, Slayer is, at points, a valid reference, at least the heaviness and “spoken” vocal patterns on “Blood Eagle”, to say nothing of the sweeps. “Debt To Me” features some uninterrupted guitar noodling. Same can be said of “An Ideal Opportunity”, which gallops along. After 25+ years away, one would imagine they'd have more to say than apparent inside jokes/personal vendettas (“Wretched Old Mildred”, “Helen Behind The Door” and “A Thousand Reasons I Hate You”), the latter's lyrics are an endless stream of evidence: “I don't have enough middle fingers for you!” Following a trip around the drums, the “Burning From Within” finale just goes for it, start to finish, the only such composition, of the ten choices.
