Artillery - B.A.C.K. (1999) [Japanese Edition]

With By Inheritance, way back in 1990 it seemed Artillery reached peaks in both musical and technical terms, combining strong melodies and considerable finesse with innate aggression, increasing the difficulty of arrangements and achieving a higher instrumental level than ever before. Unfortunately, all that splendor didn’t last long as soon the group succumbed to the success of grunge and the decline of underground metal – well, you know the story and nearly a decade after, thrash resurrected by popular demand of the veteran nostalgics and the new generation of young fans. B.A.C.K. was one of those albums that marked the beginning of a new era for the subgenre. The Danish were back in business after a long period of uncertainty and it seemed it was worth the wait as these songs brought back the greatness of the old school days to the dawn of the new century.

Rönsdorf & co. didn’t lost their touch, cuts like “Cybermind” and “How You Fell” include some remarkable solid thrashy riffs and rampaging rhythms, reaching a high level of intensity and energy – however accompanying some persistent verses and choruses, mixed with notable groove and quieter sections. Artillery still thrash hard in a more refined way on tunes like “WWW” for instance, revealing a rather uncharacteristic configuration with unpredictable ups and downs, noisy overtones and Flemming’s accented high-pitch verses again so persistent – structures are kinda instable, presenting numerous shifts and key changes. In fact, it seems the group has recovered their predilection for complexity, the willingness to offer lengthy, intricate instrumental passages – check out “Theatrical Exposure” and “Violent Breed”, which start emphasizing the usual thrash principles of abrasive riffing and accelerated tempos, then discovering some elaborated sequences with extended solos and a bunch of progression. Despite exposing a more simplistic composition, other titles like “B.A.C.K.” and “The Cure” add a rich variety of lines, structures are often modified, alternating diverse sections and designing a few competent transitions – these guys are certainly determined to avoid uniformity and simplicity at all cost. On other hand, those fresh ideas become too predictable on following cuts, “Paparazzi” (which features another of those irritating performances by Mr. Rönsdorf) or “Jester” are kinda uninspired, exposing some incoherent riffs and lacking vision alarmingly. The ballad “Fly” is deprived of direction as well, breaking the harmony of the record with its tenderness, while “Out Of The Trash” and “Final Show” push away intentionally thrash standards with a more casual, groovy touch.

Artillery undoubtedly satisfied the old school nostalgic fans, providing a bunch of pure thrash songs which inherited the charm and magic of the past without intending on other hand to repeat those vintage schemes exactly. These Danish obey the basic characteristics of the subgenre loyally, combining them with new elements in their formulas though like that notable percentage of groove, the wah-wah licks, the annoying distortion on Flemming’s choruses (intended to impersonate Anselmo?) and some mid-paced, accessible rhythms. Strong melodies and harmonies of the previous album are generally ignored here – with a few harmonies complementing the uninterrupted continuity of aggression without being accented and of course, those acoustic arrangements on “Fly” as another exception. These songs are technically superior to previous attempts as Artillery are constantly adding rigorous arrangements, dexterous riff variations, modifying the tempos and denying homogeneity of structures by incorporating lots of accents, starts & stops and versatile fills. They already attempted to construct substantially advanced music way back in 1987 on Terror Squad, yet they didn’t have the experience and abilities displayed here – their potential has increased transcendentally since then, here they’re effortlessly coming up with truly consistent songs and lots of ideas, a bigger variety of riffs that progress obeying a specific direction, eluding the fragility and chaos on that old album. They have somehow reinvented their sound, fortunately without betraying their roots or embracing too many current trends – maybe lacking certain innovation and experimenting excessively with alternative elements, though most tracks have good punch and pulse and more importantly, decent continuity. And of course, Mr. Rönsdorf’s unique vocals are as unconventional and peculiar as usual, he sounds exactly like back in 1985 with just a little raspier tone.

B.A.C.K. is one of the most solid thrash records of the late-90’s, recovering the magic of the past, executed with great efficiency and designed with talent and inspiration – not just imitating the spirit of the 80’s and abusing of the old ways, it introduces new elements and distinct feel from albums like Fear Of Tomorrow. It was the record Artillery fans had been waiting for almost a decade and these veterans didn’t disappoint them. Of course, we could’ve lived without those distorted vocals, the excessive pedal effects and the predominant groove on some songs but music inevitably reflects the trends of its time. Despite those tolerable handicaps, this stuff is honest, convincing and contributed to the resurrection of the subgenre. These Danish keep thrashing in the new century, without Flemming though it seems it’s not the same, making this CD an all the more valuable item.

Metal_Thrasher90, metal-archives.com