Betrayal Of Allies - Life’s Time

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Living in a hotbed in terms of physical climate for Phoenix, Arizona’s BETRAYAL OF ALLIES it only makes sense that their brand of Metal cross the lines of Thrash, Melodic Death, and a bit of mainstream Metal-Core on this album “Life’s Time”. Active since 2011, this is their first product to hit the marketplace, and I’m not finding much in the way of background information to piece any historical perspective – so away we go to the deep discussion of this 8-song effort.

Opening on an acoustic classical level for the first 40 seconds, once the thick power electric riffs kick in on “Reckoning for a Devil Disguise” you can expect a 7 minute rollercoaster of Thrash and dual raspy/ forceful vocals out of guitarist Cody Williams – as harmonies abound during the stair step transitions in the musical department. Vinny Handrick as a drummer has an explosive style during the faster sections of certain songs (check out the hand and foot combinations during the blistering title cut) - but also maintains a level of solid mid-tempo groove ethics when necessary so you don’t feel he is over-playing for the needs of a song.

Combining a lot of the Melodic Death prowess of say ARCH ENEMY or CHILDREN OF BODOM with a lot of the killer twists and accents that made SHADOWS FALL headliners and then reaching back into the early attack mode of METALLICA/ MEGADETH gives you an idea of the BETRAYAL OF ALLIES platform. Sometimes very tribal and speedy in terms of guitar/bass/ drum syncopation on “Blinded by Hatred” or slow building in an epic sense for the 8:37 closer “Suffer No More”, the only aspect that may be a deal breaker for some is the raspy Phil Anselmo meets Death-core style of Cody’s delivery.

In the end, “Life’s Time” has plenty of strong hooks that will make for quite a pit swarm when the band perform live, and it will be interesting to see how the band progresses on future recordings.