HIGH COMMAND "Beyond The Walls of Desolation" LIMITED COLOURED (Vinyl LP) THRASH
A$
39
$
26
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Description
FREE LOCAL PICKUP IS AN OPTION. The item is BRAND NEW. In an interesting twist, High Command smack you in the face with the lyrics and imagery of a power doom group while raging on crossover thrash riffs, all funnelled through the gritty production of underground heavy metal. As debut albums go, Beyond the Wall of Desolation can’t quite claim to be godly, but it sure sounds like a beast. The old school element signifies a large chunk of the appeal for the Massachusetts quintet. Kevin Fitzgerald roars out his vocals like he’s handling a disappointing microphone and the guitars crunch along like a monster truck running over breakfast cereal, while Ryan Pitz is less of a drummer and more a prize fighter slugging the listener in the stomach.
For all that impact is important, High Command are about more than just a wall of sound: these 8 songs all come fully developed, running to over 40 minutes and hinting at atmosphere beyond the plentiful slams and chugs. ‘Devoid of Reality’ marks the obvious departure from conventional crossover, building up slow with a long sample and eerie distortion, then sliding into massive grooves that will lap your ears like the tongue of Cerberus slapping the side of a skinned cow. Those chunky slower riffs cycle back round in cuts like ‘Visions from the Blade’, but nowhere else do High Command peter out with unsettling piano and violin, as they do when ‘Devoid of Reality’ comes home over 8 minutes later.
Even when ‘Merciless Steel’ and ‘Forged to Kill’ return to thrash metal’s direct route, something more brutal and swaggering separates Beyond the Wall of Desolation from the clinical chops of Havok and Warbringer. The bodily lurch of Power Trip may be more recognizable, while a recent tour with Spirit Adrift should highlight how High Command upset the notion of crossover as a razor-sharp and hyper-quick sub-genre. These guys are as rough and old-school as the figure on the album cover.
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