DOWNSLAVE - review added 10th February 2011
Album Review: Cost Of Freedom (2010)
For fans of: Thrash... and, er, Pantera
Knoxville, Tennessee metallers Downslave - Brad Parker on vocals, Karl Mager on bass, Scott Kirkland and Dalton Cochran on guitars, and Scott Campbell on drums - really, really sound like Pantera. And vintage Annihilator. With a bit of early Metallica thrown in too. Good, needed to get that out of the system. Once you get past the lack of originality in large parts of this band's sound (and let's face, most modern bands struggle to be truly original) Downslave are actually rather entertaining.
Brad sounds like someone has properly p*ssed him off. I don't think I've ever heard a singer sound more angry about anything. He makes Phil Anselmo sound like a presenter from Sesame Street.
The guitars and rhythms are all spot on too. This is a big, loud sounding band with a massively boisterous vibe going on. It's the aural equivalent of a truck carrying hand grenades smashing through a bunch of gasoline tanks. Music doesn't get much louder or lairier than this. And that's a good thing.
The songwriting and construction lets the side down to an extent. There isn't a huge amount of variety throughout - both in terms of speed, tone and style. 'Cost Of Freedom' really is about the performances, and once you've heard one track you could argue you've heard them all. Fortunately there is just about enough reason to carry on, and if violence is your thing you'll be glad you did. There are moments throughout that'll catch the attention. Few songs as a whole are amazing, but the title track and 'Hated' definitely get it more right than wrong.
In Summation:
As a whole this album is a blast. It's way too much like Pantera and too one-dimensional to be a classic, but for a slab of noise I'm genuinely impressed with this band.
Entertainment/Enjoyment:
Musicianship:
Vocals:
Song Writing:
Production:
Overall (Not An Average Of The Above):
Check out... The violence! And the title track.
Track List:
01. Intro
02. Unnamed
03. Cost Of Freedom
04. Total Aggression
05. Death To The New
06. Pit Approved
07. HAted
08. Brink Of Extinction
09. Test Of Time
10. 1930
Artist's website(s): MySpace | Facebook
