Fear Traders - Obsession (CD)

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With a name like this one and a front cover (and artwork in general) full of vampires and she-devils I though I was about to listen to a Cradle Of Filth clone. To my surprise what came out of the speakers was pretty good Power/Thrash Metal. So never judge a book by its cover (unless its porno - hahaha).
Fear Traders were born in 1999. The original lineup was composed by Francesco Riganelli (lead guitar), Alessio Berretta (rhythm guitar), Francesco Antolini (bass), Marco Milloni (drums) and Emanuele Bernardini (vocals). Their first demo was called Dressed In Black and it was released in 2002. In February 2003 the band renewed their lineup with Francesco Sartini (rhythm guitar) and Giulio Grassini (vocals). In the beginning of 2004 Alessio Severini was recruited as the new singer…
And that's pretty much how the story goes for Fear Traders. Their first full length release is a good album but not something out of the box. It consists of solid compositions of Power/Thrash (brings in mind Metallica, maybe Iced Earth as well). Thumbs up for the very good riffs unleashed by Francesco Sartini, but thumbs down for the vocal lines of Alessio who sounds like he needs to work on his singing a lot. The production is a bit old school but does the work.
I liked tunes like Under My Aggression and Dressed In Black but it is obvious that they need to work a lot in order to make the difference. As a debut effort, it's OK but it will probably only satisfy the hardcore fans of the genre. Give them a try!