Italian thrash metal band, Logical Terror present their latest album, ‘Sides Of The Unknown’, out now, on Darktunes Music.
Their 3rd album so far, ‘SOTU’ is a darker, yet even more excitingly energised production than the last (‘Ashes Of Fate’, 2016).
Arriving on the scene in 2008, their debut, ‘Almost Human’ arrived the same year, via Reality Entertainment.
Aiming higher, with each release, LT have co-headlined with some high-profile names, including Sepultura, Arch Enemy, Kataklysm, Soilwork, Jinjer, Darkane, Primal Fear, Engel, Mnemic, Raunchy, Destrage, etc.
‘SOTU’ was co-produced with Eddy Cavazza (Silent Ghost Production).
The new album represents a leap into the night-time world of the sub-conscious and all it reveals.
Cover art by Stefano Mattioni.
The Final Nightmare – Instant explosive thrash attack! Extreme vocals mix with melodies, with a sonic boost. Sharp sound, well produced. Breathy aggression characterises this. Good pummelling drum rolls, closing.
Multiverse Of Madness – A single drum hit opens, with metallic sound effects echoing, into the atmosphere. Typical vocal extremity, coupled with melodic vocals. Some spacey, sci-fi and synth effects combine with tech melodies. A lot of sonic emphasis. It’s fairly consistently upbeat, up to a point. Ending on more sound effects.
Sides Of The Unknown – A good strong intro, retaining the balance reverb. Slight melancholia creeps into the melodies, with raw typical death aggression following and interweaving. Nothing noticeably unique or original here, but it’s well delivered.
Down The Drain – Opening gradually. More synth and sci-fi sounds follow. Death/thrash vocals precede melodic ones. Again, it’s just very derivative. Decent performance, with equally decent audio levels. It could be any standard extreme thrash/alt metal number, though. The hooks just aren’t there.
Sold W.Hudson – Banging intro, sustaining the sound levels. Again, though, it soon breaks down, into a bog standard extreme metal track. I’m just not hearing anything out of the ordinary. The melodic sections are perfectly capably conveyed, but there’s a very repetitive thread. Closing on more synth effects.
Time Zone – Opening on more noticeable synths, but again, nothing different about the sound. Into extremity, combining with melody. I’m just not feeling it. Undeniably skilfully produced, but no new or novel features. The effects, whilst well utilised, are possibly distracting from the metallic elements. Good, definitive end.
Everlasting Darkness – A drumming intro bolsters the sound, slightly. Generic melo-death stuff, once more. Good rhythmic sustain, but nothing’s grabbing me about the general sound. It’s just the standard extreme metal stuff, with a bit more synth thrown in.
Not A Part Of This – A bit of a dull beginning. Downbeat sounds, within the sonics. Climbing aggression matches the rhythm. Just a very similar, drone-like repetition. The proficiency’s clear, but it doesn’t stand out, in any way, becoming gradually harder to stay focused on.
Dreamscape – Heavy intro. A bit more bang to the sound, now with a fluid motion, adding slight intrigue, initially, before the same generic melo-death strands return. Again, the sound they’re aiming for’s evident, but there’s just no discernible originality or individuality.
The Animal With 1000 Eyes – Very similar start. Good sound quality. Drums leading into the rest. A tad more melody here, but with an inescapable note of melancholy. Synth emphasis, as before. The growl appears at the bridge and a bit more synth and keyboard focus follows. Again, though, nothing remotely unusual, or of interest.
Overall – ‘SOTU’ unfortunately resembles any other album of the same genre. Whilst it’s competently performed and produced, it’s devoid of hooks, signatures, or any sense of real originality, or diversity. A decent effort, but the sound quality’s really the best thing about it.
5/10 *****
For fans of all melo-death/extreme metal/alt-death metal.
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