Heavy Artillery Records is a label that is quickly gaining a reputation for signing some of the best newer bands that have a musical style reminiscent of the classics. Vindicator, one of the labels newest signings at the time, present their second full-length effort, The Antique Witcheries, through this label. While this release is still a great listen, there's just too many things with it that can't easily be shaken off by many metal fans, running the gambit of idol worship, as well as bizarre coincidences.
First of all, The Antique Witcheries is a great Thrash album that brings things back to the late eighties and early nineties sound. However, this sound isn't all that original for the band. There is no mistaking a lot of similarities, musically, as well as vocally, to the Thrash legends Megadeth, which isn't necessarily that big a problem, but some Thrash fans be let down a bit due to these similarities. However, if you're not one of those individuals who loathe Dave Mustaine and/or don't get the popularity behind him and Megadeth, then chances are good you'll be able to look past these similarities and find a fantastic album hidden underneath. However, this still doesn't really excuse the vocals on this album, which seem to dwarf the energetic musical performance in many ways.
First of all, the vocal performance on this album suits the music nicely, but the problem is that it sounds very tame compared to the hard hitting and energetic performance behind them. There are times on the album where the vocals seem to have some real energy behind them, such as the scream during "Beneath the Guillotine" and the vocals near the closing of "Sewn to the Flesh". One cannot argue that the vocals on many of the songs here don't lack a fantastic performance, as one listen to "Quarry Rats" will prove that there is more to be desired on this album from the vocals, as this track features the most energetic sounding vocals from start to finish, and not just random moments to match a sudden change of intensity, or to amp things up a little more prior to a guitar solo. The only time these unenthused vocals really fit into the music is during the chorus of "Fear Monger", but the song would have benefitted more from having the words spoken in between the word "Fear" with distortion, almost as if they were in the background and mechanical. Outside the unenthusiastic performance, fans of comedy who have heard either of the release from comedian Brian Posehn may pick up that when the vocals go a bit deeper, they will sound very similar to his vocal performance on the songs he has recorded for those two releases, as well as his other "fake" band Titanica. Obviously, these vocals do not capture the listeners attention all the time, and simply come off more like a watered down Dave Mustaine then anything.
outside the vocals hidering the album on many tracks, the music here is phenomenal. As mentioned earlier, the track "Quarry Rats" is a great track that features a very suiting vocal performance that compliments the energetic music. The track stands out greatly due to this, as well as that it is one of the fastest cuts off the album, but not all of the songs share the same speed or intensity of that track. Most of The Antique Witcheries is composed of headbanging Thrash that seems to rely more on being catchy then on anything else, and for the most part it all sounds great. "Beneath the Guillotine" starts the album off well, though the vocals really drag the song down sometimes, for the most part is a lower volume performance with a little extra effort put into the chorus. "Fear Monger" is just a traditional Thrash song with a catchy chorus that will be stuck in your head for days and have you coming back for repeat listens, done in such an accessible way that all fans of Thrash could easily come together and headbang to this track. "Raze the Dead" is another track that seems to have a good focus on catchy riffs, but the song is more oriented towards intensity then anything, coming off much harder then some of the other songs while not really being a fast paced song. This song also features a much more energetic vocal performance, much like with "Quarry Rats", and it just sounds fantastic in the end. The same can be said about "Dead in the Water", but this one just about matches the speed of "Quarry Rats" as well. "strange Aeons" makes for another great song that, again, relies on catchy riffs, but has a very energetic chorus, both musically and vocally, that has the potential to be stuck in your head much like "Fear Monger".
Overall, the only thing on The Antique Witcheries that is a let down would be the vocals. Often it just sounds like the vocalist is mearly saying the lyrics, but trying to sound like a badass while doing it, and it just doesn't work. When the energy of the music is matched with an energetic vocal performance, however, this release stands on it's own nicely, though the music doesn't really boast all that much originality to it. Either way, if you're a fan of Thrash, this follow-up Vindicator album has some great music that makes for great music in your car, but if you focus too much on the vocals, it will all wind up being somewhat hindered in the long run. They really aren't enough to really ruin the album, but there is no denying they simply are not the greatest in the genre.
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