An album release from Shovelhead A.D. Hits hard with a massive soiree of influences in the metal soundscape ranging from thrash to melodic, doom, and more. They managed to real all these in and blend them together seamlessly for one fat album and this thing has a relentless energy from the beginning all the way to the end.
The Timeless Old LP wastes no time at all, as it comes in with an intro that helps build the record. Just after that comes a track called "Choke on Dopesmoke", which displays some of those Speedy thrash and deepening tone approaches.
This track showcases a lot of what you can expect from the record however, there are, again, a lot of different influences coming into play, and the various metal approaches don't all show face at the beginning of the record.
This is an album you need to listen to from beginning to end so that you can really soak in everything the way it was meant to.
The album boasts high energy and sharp riffs that are inventive but still classic and familiar. Along with thriving and super tight drumming. All of it has the energy and essence of what you would get from a live performance in a certain way.
It's almost like they recorded a lot of this live on the floor, and everyone involved was just feeding off of each other's energies the entire time, giving these tracks massive drive.
The guitar tones are rebellious and deepening but still with perfect high-ended balance, devilish distortion, and this fierceness that can cut through anything.
Some of these tracks bring to mind bands like Pantera for example.
This is a big one for any metal fan, but you can certainly hear that influence in this record.
Other tracks like "Shell Shock" start with an inventive riff that has a certain kind of bounce to it rhythmically, so you automatically get attached to the riff even before the full band and song actually kick in.
It starts with a teaser riff.
These kinds of songs make me think of lesser-known bands but extremely good bands like Nothingface.
This is exactly what I mean by bringing in these different eras and elements of metal from different times, approaches, and attitudes. These guys are influenced by a ton of great bands, and they've managed to pull all this off again, all within a 10-song spectrum.
The guitar work across the record is outstanding. There's plenty of great lead stuff, and a lot of that has sold to it. The riffs are intense and inventive, and the whole thing has massive sonic drive.
Other elements that come into play make you think of classic metal bands, like the way the tracks were mixed.
You have a slight reverb effect on the drums and vocals at times.
Because there's so much trudging in the palm-muted riffs, you pick up on that little hint of reverb, and that's something that old-school bands would do in the metal scene.
The vocals are fiery and aggressive, as they should be. But it's got a great screen to it that actually has different levels of intensities, and at times, you can even hear bits of East Coast hardcore coming into play.
Like I mentioned before, to really hear all these different influences that the band has throughout this album, it needs to be listened to in full.
Listening to one or two tracks may give you an idea of what the rest of the record may sound like but does not give you the full spectrum of what it has to offer as a whole.
You can tell these guys have an absolute love for their craft. Not just playing their instruments or singing but really writing songs together.
This is a destructive record that has a rebelliousness to it, and it gave me bouts of nostalgia because of how they nailed this classic metal aesthetic while bringing in newer elements also.
They created their own heavy metal atmosphere, and this is an album for fans of all different levels of the genre.
You'll dig this if you like thrash, doom, melodic, speed... all of it.
The record encompasses some of the best elements of the genre and it does so with such an energized and vivacious aesthetic and feel that you automatically just get attached to the whole thing.
These guys are amazing at what they do, and if you're a guitar player, you're immediately going to love this record.
Check this album out, and do it loud. This is a real metal album that should be listened to at a high volume or not at all. Straight up.
Dive into this record right now and remember where you heard it first.
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