October 31 - Bury The Hatchet

October 31

Bury The Hatchet

by Jeff Legg at 04 October 2014, 10:06 PM

With the growing diversity and evolution of the heavy metal genre, the lines between its sub-genres have become blurred to the point that a lot of bands fall into none of them, or maybe, on the other hand, they fall into a lot of them. This review is about one of them. OCTOBER 31 is a band that I’ll just call “heavy metal”, and only care about making music that comes from their gut and they really don’t care at all about fitting into a particular genre or trying to emulate the “flavor of the month”, chart-heavy brand of music.

With the release of their new album, “Bury the Hatchet”, OCTOBER 31 display elements, of what some would consider, thrash, while other might consider it NWOBHM; anyway you slice it, it’s just pure HEAVY METAL to me! At times while listening to this “slab of lead”, I got the feel of old-school METALLICA on “Kill ‘Em All”, and other times, there were tracks that reminded me of DEATH ANGEL’s “The Ultra-Violence”. The guitar riffs are played at a furious tempo and the vocals are somewhat guttural and in your face. The bottom end is heavy and powerful and really standout on this offering. With their straightforward style of metal music, there is no reason to say anything else. This album rips.

Hailing from Arlington, Virginia, OCTOBER 31 consists of King Fowley (DECEASED) on vocals, Brian Williams (ex-MELVINS) on guitar, Matt Ibach on guitar, Jim Hunter (ex-REVELATION, ex-TWISTED TOWER DIRE, ex-WHILE HEAVEN WEPT) on bass, and Sean Wilhide on drums. While they haven’t become a household name yet, these guys have a huge underground following and come across as if they are content with their current status in the metal arena. They seem to have the logic of “we’ll only take what we’ve earned”, which is the mindset that more and more of the current “click” bands should adopt.

OCTOBER 31 bring all of the grit and passion of heavy metal without boundaries. If you like your music loud, fast, and heavy, with the aggression and power that heavy metal once was, when it was HEAVY metal, “Bury the Hatchet” is the serving that will appease your appetite.