| CD REVIEW Treason |
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Band : Treason Hum...Treason! I have fond memories of a Dutch Heavy Metal act whom only released the one demo How the Mighty Have Fallen, somewhere in the latter part of the '80s...but of course that is nót the band we're dealing with here! Nor is it the British NWoBHM act, who released an untitled demo in 1981, for that matter! Nah...what we're dealing with here is a resurrection of the also British Thrash Metal act, which was active under that name between 1988 (releasing the 1989 demo High Executioner and working alongside other British Thrash Metal acts such as Slammer, Xentrix, and Onslaught...the band occasionally supported important acts, such as Neurosis, Warrior Soul, Gwar, Motorhead, and Bad Brains) and 1990, at which moment they split to resurface with new members, but also changing their name to Ashes To Ashes for their self-titled 1992 demo, releasing an EP entitled Path Of No Return that same year. ATA split up a year later, and part of the line-up formed the highly regarded Pulkas, who were briefly signed to Earache. Main person in both the early ATA and its precursor Treason, was singer/ guitarist John Seaton, whom went into a 12-year hiatus during which he nevertheless still wrote new material. He resurfaced during 2004 in the Progressive Rock/ Metal band Ego Prime, which featured musicians from Hawkwind (keyboardist Harvey Bainbridge) and Stray (bassist John Bootle and drummer Dan Warren?). Logistical problems led to the band stopping within the year, and gigging only a couple of times...but they did succeed in recording an album (which Seaton, in hindsight, wasn't exactly thrilled about). Following Ego Prime's demise, Seaton resurrected the Treason name, but with a different musical background, finding (after a hard search) bassist Steve Reddihough (from cult Punk band The Machines) to step in on the bass, and Danny Rowe (worked with London based Space Rockers Peyote Mothership) on drums. During Summer 2009 the trio went into the studio to record a self-titled 12-track self-financed album, using material from the Ego Prime album as well as songs originally written in the original Treason's days (those of course re-worked and de-tuned to fit the band's current style)...which was (and still is) only available from the band's website or at gigs. Following their “un-official” debut album, Treason now brings its official debut full-length, yet again 12 tracks long (with the very nice total length of just under 62 ½ minutes), and to keep a possibly long review short, those into good old-style Progressively tinted Power Rock with an exceptional singer (Seaton has at the same time a slight hoarseness and a slight nasality to his vocals, and never puts any aggression in his singing – funny, before I'd read the info sheet, I was actually thinking about how the singer was bringing the band Stray to my mind...or was it perhaps Strife I had in mind?) should by all means check the songs posted at the band's' own website (www.) treasonband.com (5 songs off each album) and at (www.) myspace.com/httpwwwcomtreason (none off the new album, but the two sites combined will give you 7 out of the 12 tracks off the 2009 album). Great material with a retro feel and changing intensities, although overall on the calmer side of the Rock spectrum, in spite of the guitar's nice heaviness. 95/100 Tony. |
