Ultimate Holocaust - Assault on the Control Room

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"Assault on the Control Room" is the 2nd album from Italian thrash metal band ULTIMATE HOLOCAUST just released in May of 2018. Formed in 2010 and releasing their debut "Blackmail the Nation" in 2015. The sound hasn't matured too much. it's full of old-school thrash riffs and audio production to match. The vocalist does have an interesting tone. Close to KREATOR era "Please to Kill." Musically, sometimes similar to old EXODUS. Plenty of one-note riffs holding off straight power chords and the drums keep time and never really accent on their own. That about sums up the first track, "Man Vs. Machine."

"Trapped In Quicksand" gets a little more impressive with the guitar riff that doesn't require double bass triplets, but hey ok. It did add a dynamic that kinda made it available to go whatever way you wanted to take it. The guitar tone is not beefy at all. It sounds restrained and very thin. The lead during the song was an obvious punch in as the volume changed drastically and it just stuck out like a bad overdub. I saw the reviews for the debut, and most stated ULTIMATE HOLOCAUST has potential. I agree I am hearing some cool things and some not so cool things that could easily be corrected by practicing. There are moments where everything sounds well thought out and very deliberate. Then there are others that seem sloppy and thrown together.

"In the Heart of Illusion" the quality was ok, I loved the direction. Referencing the main riff from "Call of Ktulu" (METALLICA) the song begins with what seems like possibly the guitarists baby. Ya know the one track that is your passion. There is some great structure and the acoustic parts are softly haunting and when the electric joins in the mix its blended great. The whispered snarls of spoken word creep as it should. This is the most melodic offering on the album and it's honestly the bands strongest effort. If every song on "Assault on the Control Room" was prepared, delivered, and mixed like this the album would be a surefire success.

It's thrash minus a lot of speed, although there is some, there is not as much as you'd expect. The melodic stuff was just so good and the thrash stuff was so monotonous and is about 20 years too late. Keep at it guys, there is still something seriously potential going on. Sound quality. On PC headphones I thought it would help the sound. Nope. In the car. The mids took over and ended up bottoming out. The guitar was so thin it was buried. The ability to mix and render in stereo sound is great, but the tone and mix are just missing some minor adjustments that could've brought out some real shine for these guys. Rather than split channels on a guitar, why not layer it and thicken it up. Pan the hats to the left and give some room to the other sounds on the right.

Songwriting: 6
Originality: 6
Memorability: 6
Production: 6