About.com Rating

The Bottom Line

Thrash metal with a raw but generic sound.

Pros

• Ferocious guitars.
• Nasty, raw punk attitude and sound.
• An abundance of guitar solos.

Cons

• Production is muffled and muddy.
• Horrible cover art.
• Generic riffs.

Description

• Released January 25, 2011 on Twisted Hillbilly Records.
• Attackhead are from Orange County, California.
• This is a re-recorded version of their 2008 debut CD.

Guide Review - Attackhead - 'Voices In The Dark: Second Attack'


Orange County’s Attackhead is a straight up, no frills thrash band with a punk rock underbelly. They play raw and dirty metal with an old school thrash sound. Similarities to Hirax, Possessed, At War and early-era Slayer come to mind. Although, not nearly as technical or talented as the aforementioned bands, they do bring a nasty ferocity to their songs on Voices in the Dark: Second Attack.

Voices in the Dark was originally self-released in 2008, but was picked up by Twisted Hillbilly Records and re-recorded and re-released with two new tracks, new artwork (horrible) and packaging. Formed in 2002, guitarist/vocalist Mark Chapman is the only original member.

Buzzsaw guitars and rough, punk-styled vocals is the order of the day here. The guitars are up front in the mix with heavy reverb and distortion. The drums are somewhat muddy sounding and the bass is barely audible. All 11 tracks are made up of pretty generic riffs with a lack of variation and tempo changes.

The guitar solos are the thing that saves this disc a little bit.

Guitarist George Portoulas is not a shredder in the sense of the word, but proves to be quite adequate. Vocal-wise, Chapman is one dimensional — there’s not much variation to his punkish bark.

A rainy thunderstorm batters down as a voice is spoken through what sounds like a bullhorn or a loud speaker, makes up the intro. The title track then kicks off with a thrash/punk attack. The riff is raw, the vocals are harsh, but the drums are a bit sloppy, with a thudding bass drum sound. The breakdown and solo in “Rebirth” remind me of early Testament.

All the songs are way too long, and due to their lack of tempo changes, get old quickly. There’s a lack of melody and there’s nothing really memorable about the riffs. You do have to admire their tenacity and aggression, though.

If it’s raw, basic thrash you seek, then Attackhead’s Voices in the Dark: Second Attack is what you’ll get.

Disclosure: A review copy was provided by the publisher. For more information, please see our Ethics Policy.