Band: Havok
Title: Time Is Up
Label: Candlelight
Distribution: Plastic Head Distribution
Release date: March 28th 2011
Review: CD

Havok… Where do I know this name from? The Death Metal formation? And then again, which one? The brutal one from Brazil, the modern and thrashy one from Germany, or the Swedish Havok with Deranged’s Andreas Johansson? Or the Black Metal Havok from Italy, which released two nice albums during the early 2000’s? No, this has to do with the Thrash-band called Havok.
Aha, I hear you think… Wasn’t there a Thrash Metal formation with that very same name during the early nineties? Indeed, but this review deals with a new release by Denver, Colorado-based Havok, the one that released the successful Burn-album in 2009, also through Candlelight.
This American band plays Thrash Metal the Old Way. The material on this sophomore album goes on in the vein of both the former full length, as well as the other mini-releases (a couple of 7”EP’s and a mini-album in 2007). It means that the basics are built upon Old School Thrash Superiority with a total glorification of the protagonists. Pro and con are: the skilled and energetic performance versus a total lack of originality.
When it comes to the first, well, these guys have fun, they know what to do with their instruments, and they did listen very carefully to their heroes. Besides, the sound is superb for this kind of release. A Death or Black Metal album couldn’t do, yet in this case such a modernised and well-mixed sound isn’t but a surplus.
The lack of being original gives me a double-bind feeling. It’s a pity, because Havok have no specific ‘own’ characteristic sound. It wasn’t the case in the past, and it still isn’t the case. Or maybe that’s their strength? Anyway, I don’t care that much for one simple reason: the songs they perform are of a superb quality, (almost) reaching the superior level of the primal kings – think: Testament, Metallica, Slayer, Exodus or Death Angel. Non-American bands that come to mind are Fatal Embrace, Kreator and Inrage, or more recent combos like Always Fallen (great!), Angelus Apatrida, Grief Of War or Sanctity.
I did enjoy this stuff, but it might be too retro, and a level of originality that equals zero might be pretty frustrating???
Length: forty two minutes.

81/100

Ivan Tibos.