Vancouver’s TITANS EVE have really hit a sweet spot with their second album. This concept disc (don’t worry, it’s an economic 38 minutes) is all power and thrash but way more thrash than power, coming across totally aggressive but with a sense of drama and purpose usually reserved for the sit-down-to-pee-metal of ye olde frilly shirt variety. But the catch is this: when someone’s hollering iambic pentameter at you, using bullshit words like “whilst” while singing in a falsetto, it gets hard to take seriously, right? Right. Here, we’re not even sure what words are being used because they’re just being forced down your throat, in a manner that recalls the best of Combat Records-era thrash, all huge riffs that mean business, double-bass pounding relentlessly, all gruff and no melodies and no nonsense and you better believe there are no wimps, poseurs, or girls in the hall. Man, even the production on this one is better than you’d think for an indie release, making this a very pleasant surprise indeed. I love the illusion: musically, it’s 90% straight-laced thrash-’til-death stuff, but because of this sense of importance and the 10% ambitious stuff, I couldn’t help but mention power metal way back in the second sentence even though this is way too scary for power metal playlists. Well played, Titans Eve.
