Was vaguely familiar with the bandname, and while I don't recall if I ever actually heard them before or not, I associated their name with thrash. Based on the look of the layout, the later band logo, and the band pictures, it looked like it was going to be more modern sounding stuff, and I wasn't terribly excited.
It's impossible to accurately describe the band's music without some mention of Metallica, because the vocals are some of the most blatant James Hetfield emulation I've ever heard in the entire metal scene. This is quite a varied album, and I suppose the mix of heavier and more mellow, accessible songwriting elements feel like the band are re-imagining some of The Black Album concepts in 2004, though this has way more actual thrashiness. That said, I wasn't overly impressed by any of the thrash elements here, and anyone approaching this as a straightforward thrash release would probably be disappointed (if they're more discerning, at least). "Devil in My Neck," "Into the Fire," "Just Some Pain," and "What We Call Progressive" are the fastest and thrashiest tracks, but in every case any straightforward thrashing is interrupted by more melodic choruses.
While there are the inevitable groove metal influences you'd expect for this kind of thing in the '00s, they're actually nowhere as prevalent as I expected. "Divergent" is probably the closest to being a straightforward groove/thrash song, and even then, it's not that bad--I think the vocal style helps make it work.
The most memorable song on the CD for me ended up being "All I Gave," which ironically is the most Black Album sounding song. It's a slower track that definitely takes some influences from "Of Wolf and Man" and "Sad But True."
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