Spearhead – Deathless Steel Command
Lurking somewhere between the unbridled chaos of war metal and an older Destroyer 666 stylistically, Spearhead have brought this 10 track cassette to the table to demonstrate their uniqueness and seemingly unrelenting power. When the blasting hits its maximum intensity, Spearhead never completely loses control, rather centering their efforts on interesting tremolo riff ideas and other atypical guitar lines that always push the boundaries of this bands speed and tightness, without ever fully losing it. I guess this is one of the main elements that sets this band apart from their obvious war metal influence. War metal’s main aesthetic embraces the chaos where everything falls apart in the maelstrom for the band to nurture this nebulous noise zone to emulate the destructive forces of war. Spearhead never take it this far, always maintain a sensible control of their music and choose to sensibly break away from a blast all the time mentality, in favor of excellently placed tempo variations. Spearhead are superior blasters, but are just as potent in the mid-paced zone as well where impressive guitar harmonies emerge from the power chord dominant foundation to give each track that much needed sense of development. Spearhead’s overall delivery is very memorable as each song offers 1 or 2 very solid hooks. Add this to a harsh mid-ranged vocal style that sits along the fence between black and war metal, as well as a very raw overall presentation and I hear instances of older Destroyer 666 entering this bands overall sound. Certainly not a direct clone by any means since Spearhead is a rather unique sounding entity, but the influence is there and will really bring in the people that appreciated “Violence is the Prince of this World” and other into barbarically brutal metal with substance. I really can’t get over the tasteful guitar work and impressive harmonies decorating this album. It really adds a touch of class to this bands overall push for annihilation. -Marty
TOUR DE GARDE
www.spearhead.cjb.net
Worm Gear 