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Attackhead: Voices in the Dark (Reissue)
Attackhead Voices in the Dark Reissue album new music review

Attackhead: Voices in the Dark (Reissue)

Heavy/Thrash Metal
4.0/5.0

Twisted Hillbilly Records
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by Craig Hartranft,  01.24.2011

At first I thought Attackhead was pulling my leg: the title track from Voices in the Dark is lame, filled with miscues and redundancy. Then I thought: these guys can't be serious. They mean well, trying to capture old school heavy metal circa 1983, but merely fumbling about. However, after an honest listen, there's more to hear than meets the ears.

Voices in the Dark was released independently in 2008, and received affirmation and airplay outside the United States. Moe Hillbilly of Knoxville's (TN) Twisted Hillbilly Records took notice and signed the band for a new recording. Attackhead opted to re-record Voices in the Dark. Twisted Hillbilly Records provided the funding and the shit cover art.

Attackhead wishes to invoke, or at least their PR material does, comparisons to Testament, Slayer, and Megadeth. I don't thinks so. Voices in the Dark is some form of old school thrash and speed metal mixed with NWOBHM, or something akin to it.

Passing over the intro and the title track, Attackhead delivers the goods. Heavy, mostly thrashy, equal parts melody and intensity, and some clever twists in their arrangements (if you have the ears to hear) make Voices in the Dark bona fide trip into the realms of true heavy metal. Infected, Lead the Blind, Tazer, and the nearly immaculate Blame are exceptional pieces. Forget the hardcore, harshness, dirty vocals, and useless violence of modern metal. The true spirit of heavy metal lives within the grooves of Attackhead's Voices in the Dark.

Surely, some listeners, mostly the uninformed modern metal with no sense of history, will not get the relevance and vibrancy of Attackhead's metal. Forget them. With songs like Blame and Dark Ritual pummeling you with speed, heaviness, and melody, there's no reason to consider the critics. Attackhead's Voices in the Dark is well recommended.




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In Short

Surely, some listeners, mostly the uninformed modern metal with no sense of history, will not get the relevance and vibrancy of Attackhead's metal. Forget them. With songs like Blame and Dark Ritual pummeling you with speed, heaviness, and melody, there's no reason to consider the critics. Attackhead's Voices in the Dark is well recommended.

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