Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Vicious Rumors
Label: SPV Records
Release: 2016
Length: 49:44
Rating: 4/5
Blessed and praised be American old school speed/thrash metal, forever and ever. Here’s another monument from a legendary band, one rooted in the discoveries of American metal pioneers who set up shop in the golden eighties in the Bay Area, in the city of San Francisco. We’re talking about the new album from a crew that has been on the metal scene non-stop for a full thirty-seven years, and it’s called »Concussion Protocol«.
In 2013, Vicious Rumors’ tireless leader Geoff Thorpe shook up the lineup once again. The new members are Dutch singer Nick Holleman and Slovenian bassist Tilen Hudrap, while during the recording of the album, Bob Capka on guitar was replaced by the returning, and excellent, Thaen Rasmussen. What you just read in the sentence above means that after the latest refresh of the lineup, Vicious Rumors have become an international band for the first time in their career (with one fifth of the lineup Slovenian, too), and for Slovenian metal on the world stage that may well count as the biggest achievement (to this day). And there’s more. Tilen, who won over his new employer Geoff Thorpe with his personality, is credited as co-writer on half of the new songs, and he even gave three of them their titles. Those songs are Victims of a Digital World, Every Blessing is a Curse, Last of Our Kind, the album’s title track, and the band’s first single Take it Or Leave It, which is even the first song in the band’s long career that opens with a bass line. And there’s more. In the middle section, Geoff even kept Tilen Hudrap’s bass solo, and the bass lines are clearly pushed up front in several of the transitional passages too. These facts alone make it clear how highly Geoff Thorpe rates Tilen Hudrap. When picking a new bassist, Geoff had an endless line of candidates at his fingertips, which means Hudrap was chosen against truly the fiercest competition among the world’s metal bassists.
After »Warball«, the album that took the band back to their classic, recognizable style, Vicious Rumors have risen again. Artistically mature, and with greater visibility too, they’re experiencing a new renaissance. With every album their sound has grown, getting rougher, angrier, more extreme. A lot of the riffs ride an incredible middle line between elements of Bay Area thrash metal and old-school American speed metal. That’s been the band’s carefully kept and nurtured trademark over the years, and in new times it has evolved into a one-of-a-kind uniqueness that defines the band’s musical character. Compared to its predecessor »Electric Punishment«, which allowed itself a bit more experimenting, »Concussion Protocol« is once again a more compact, tightly focused album. Partly because a concept ties the songs together. Humanity is doomed because a giant asteroid is approaching and will inevitably slam into our planet. Throughout the lyrics, the band stays socially critical and engaged. That’s an effective way of venting their anger at the delusions of the brave new world, which (let’s be honest) has to come to an end. It simply can’t go any other way, because history never teaches us anything.
Geoff and company remain exceptional smiths of guitar phrases. Once again they’re built into the compositions with undiminished drive and passion, creating the blaze of a raging storm that can tear your ears right off your head. New vocalist Nick Holleman fits the band like a glove. He’s an outstanding screamer (the closing scream in Take or Leave It or the opening one in Every Blessing is a Curse will knock you right out of your skin), pure melodic vocal explosiveness that easily covers every pitch while masterfully holding back its full vocal power in the delivery. Those vocals are again contrasted and harmonized with additional lines. Often they’re backed by the rough, mid-range, commanding approach of Thorpe’s ominous vocals, and the guys artfully turn the choruses in particular into street-gang chants, which is their usual trademark anyway. Within the band’s established idiom, the songs keep developing ever-changing ideas and arrangements, and »Concussion Protocol« is another achievement of tremendous dynamic development, full of wildly splashing, eruptive energy, with a tense, gloomy, cataclysmic mood running through the whole album. When the “ravenousness” and “bite” of the album’s sheer compactness washes over you, the answer is instantly yes: the new members of the band clearly read each other brilliantly and work well together. Maybe the closing Life For a Life is the best example of how Vicious Rumors can masterfully build incredible darkness and doom. That song, set at the very tail end of the album to push the dark atmosphere up to a peak, simply charms you so much that you want to spin »Concussion Protocol« again and again (and again). Even when the band eases off the gas pedal a bit and slows to a mid-tempo, hard-hitting, almost balladic Circle of Secrets, Vicious Rumors make up for those moments with a higher level of musicality and sophistication, which the composition itself demands. And speaking of musicality, it’s clearly audible throughout. All this despite the incredibly rough production sound, which Vicious Rumors keep in an extremely angry stance across the album once again. The energy of the album is very similar to that of »Razorback Killers«, even though the two albums are far from identical.
The solos are once again pure poetry and a real gourmet feast for everyone who loves dizzying guitar speed, leaving the way wide open for the escapades of a creative imagination. Besides Geoff and Thaen, two former Vicious Rumors members joined the album as special guests: Brad Gillis (Night Ranger) and Steve Smyth (ex-Nevermore, ex-Testament, ex-Forbidden). The guitar work as a whole is once again a chapter of its own on this album.
»Concussion Protocol« is an excellent album and another triumphant move from the legendary Vicious Rumors. A real scourge of God, a one-of-a-kind reflection of the pioneering days of the old American school of metal, carried into new times. A refreshed crew, a clear focus of musical vision and a passion for music. Defiance and strength keep the heart of the band at the energy level of ambitious teenagers eager to prove themselves. An album with heart and team spirit, and at least on par with »Razorback Killers«, if not better: the band’s new “post-Warball” studio album!
Vicious Rumors – Take It Or Leave It (official video):
Lineup
Nick Holleman – vocals
Geoff Thorpe – guitar, vocals, backing vocals
Thaen Rasmussen – guitar
Tilen Hudrap – bass
Larry Howe – drums
GUEST MUSICIANS:
Brad Gillis – guitar
Steve Smyth – guitar
Production
Juan Urteaga
Tracklist
01. Concussion Protocol (4:56)
02. Chemical Slaves (5:50)
03. Victims Of A Digital World (4:13)
04. Chasing The Priest (4:13)
05. Last Of Our Kind (3:56)
06. 1000 Years (3:39)
07. Circle Of Secrets (5:04)
08. Take It Or Leave It (3:23)
09. Bastards (4:40)
10. Every Blessing Is A Curse (4:14)
11. Life For A Life (6:11)
