Source: Album Artwork
American thrash metallers Havok have been around long enough now to know how to deliver a brilliant record— though their 2004 conception makes them merely infants in comparison to some of the greats. Some fans of the genre would argue that nothing new can be done, now that we live in the era of commercial music and not the golden age of metal which saw the rise of bands such as Slayer and Suicidal Tendencies. Havok, on the other hand, seem to not be concerned with others’ opinions in the sense that they are still continuing to put out music and hit the nail on the head every time.
Opening with ‘F.P.C.‘, which has an introduction that could easily have you thinking you are listening to anything but Havok, the track quickly starts to deliver on what would be expected from this band. The use of both shows a versatility that a lot of other bands either don’t put to use, or don’t even possess.
Each track is longer than the average song across most other genres, but it tends to be a regular occurrence in thrash. Each offering almost seems like its split into parts, like a story, for that very reason, using elegant songwriting as an effective way of delivering Havok’s ‘tales’. It doesn’t take very long to realize a lot of the material is inspired by politics, making Havok one of very few bands that actually uses their platform for the greater good. ‘Dogmaniacal‘, for example, with its opening lyrics, “you don’t need to have conscience / you’re just following orders from the man upstairs“.
All in all, Havok have put together a pretty solid record. It’s not likely to become an icon— it’s far from Megadeth‘s Rust In Peace or Metallica‘s Master Of Puppets— but it does all the right tricks it needs to be a success in the contemporary. One thing Havok is capable of that some others might not be is definitely the way they bring in various influences to their material, even if they may not be cut from the same cloth. It’s admirable next to carbon copies that exist in this day and age who are terrified of stepping out of their comfort zone.
