Sunday, August 7, 2022

H-George - Slave of Society (2011)

Cost: $2.00

Let's get the issue out of the way immediately--the band name is ridiculous.  I don't think it's quite the worst metal band name I've ever heard, but it's up there on the awful list.

While it's not as bad as I was expecting, nothing here really enthused me. It's rather bland thrash that leans heavily towards the modern side in terms of groovy riffage and sterile production.  Jeff Waters mixed and mastered the album, and the modernity of the music and production style do indeed bring later Annihilator to mind quite a bit, maybe mixed with influences from the (largely forgettable) later stuff of the Bay Area bands around the time this was released.  Everything is tolerable and the second half of the original album even seems to be a bit cooler riffwise, but nothing really jumps out as terribly impressive.  The vocals are primarily clean and while they're nowhere near his actual range or singing caliber, they reminded me quite a lot of Steve Grimmett on Onslaught's In Search of Sanity album.  It was nice not to have any overly aggro vocals as the more modern thrash style might suggest, although a little more viciousness or aggression in the vox probably would have helped this.  

The last 4 tracks are bonuses from an earlier demo/EP.  Still the same basic style, though it seems slightly more technical and the vocals (courtesy of the Sadist singer) are of a more extreme sort.  They come off as more energetic, though I think the main album is actually superior for having better vocals and song ideas.  Almost any release on Punishment 18 Records would provide a more classic thrash experience than this, and I'm pretty lukewarm about most of their band roster.  More of a forgettable meh release than an actively bad one.

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