After 17 years, Canuck thrash/groove metallers ENTROPY are back with their third album. Astute Canadian metal historians may recall ’92’s Ashen Existence and ’95’s Transcendence, but for the most part this Toronto band flew under the radar. Here, they come back solid and tight, sounding more or less like the local well-practiced thrashing bar band. But there’s a slight scent of ambition to this one, a feeling that the band knows they need to give it that little extra something, so the thrash ends up brainy and smart, like VOIVOD when they’re keeping it simple, or a less aggressive SACRIFICE. Tunes like ‘Succubus’ show the band can slow things down for heavy effect, while ‘Bloodrites’ thrash fast and catchy. ‘Darkness Eclipsed’ is a success of a sprawling prog-metal closer inspired by RUSH and DREAM THEATER. Downsides? While I appreciate the balls-in-a-vice screams, the gruffer vocals fall flat, and the album as a whole becomes a bit suffocating after a while (again, I’m blaming the vocals). Still, a solid disc, one that might not bring the band too far above opening-band status when the bigger acts roll through town, but is definitely deserving of some respect and a few loud spins. Welcome back, Entropy!
