Label: Metal Blade Records
Release date: 23.08.2019
Album length: 33.05 min
Production: Arthur Rizk
Genre: Thrash Metal
Rating: 8.5 / 10
At the end of this August, after a 23-year dry spell, a new Sacred Reich album finally dropped! The cult thrash metal outfit from Arizona made their name in the early years of their career, firing off two great studio albums, “Ignorance” and “The American Way”, and in between pouring oil on the fire of thrash’s then-booming surge, riding the wave of the second-wave bands, with the EP “Surfing Nicaragua”. “Independent” (1993) and “Heal” (1996) after it are both perfectly solid albums too, though I’d still have wished the “stretched-out” “Independent” had also clocked in at just over half an hour, which is the tradition for the other Sacred Reich albums. Still, both got a mixed reception from the purists when they came out. It’s interesting how long it took the band to follow up “Heal”, even though their career only records one (five-year) hiatus (at the start of the new millennium).
Dave McClain is back, after 23 years with Machine Head. On the garage-stripped production of “Awakening”, he’s finally delivered wonderfully loose drumming that sounds organic and natural, without any hyper-produced studio tricks. Phil Rind hasn’t lost a shred of vocal firepower. Well, that’s not entirely true. Over the years he’s gotten a little bit “prettier” in his yelling, screaming and singing, but overall he still spits fire with convincing, confident rage, and on that front “Awakening” is a very assured manifesto that was worth waiting for. For those hardened old-school Sacred Reich purists with sky-high expectations, it’s maybe not quite the record they wanted, but once the album “rolls” through less burdened ears, it sounds excellent as a whole and leaves a more than pleasant feeling. Arnett hasn’t forgotten how to write fiery hooks that grab you right away, he’s still sharp and recognizable in his solos, and he’s found good backup in young Joey Radziwill, who mostly handles rhythm guitar duties.
The album cover is grotesque and once again reminds us that Sacred Reich remain fervent opponents of “American global slave-driving”, something they’ve never hidden in their lyrics, and this time too they take a few sharp swipes at the American regime (Killing Machine). At the same time, the guys bring in that humorous side of theirs, which was embodied above all by the famous EP “Surfing Nicaragua”. The rock’n’roll passage in the closing Something to Believe is comparable to the trick in the passage of the classic “Surfing Nicaragua”, even though the two tracks are put together quite differently, and what they share is the “fun” side of the songwriting.
It would be unfair to say the band is looking to plug back into their early era with “Awakening”. It’s simply a continuation from the point where Sacred Reich left off as songwriters. At the same time, the new album also has spots that could easily flirt with the essence of “The American Way” (Awakening, Divide & Conquer, Manifest Reality, Revolution). These songs are also thrashed out with real punk-rock energy, even with possible HC touches (Revolution), and the top spot among the new tracks goes to the furious Don’t Do It Donnie, a slap in the face lasting under two minutes, which you can only find on the split album with Iron Reagan. True, the occasional “Pantera-style” and “sludge feeling” of the album “Heal” is undetectable, but in its search for primordiality in the arrangements, the band has historically reached back into the pre-thrash and speed metal era. In Death Alley, Sacred Reich even bring in a “cowbell” to contrast the rhythmic undercarriage of the track, and the song even flirts with blues and southern rock rhetoric. Of course, the production is dirty and garage-y, as thrash metal demands. No prettying up, straight in the teeth. I don’t remember, though, Rind ever going for such elaborate musical vocal lines in his career as he does at some points on the new album (the mid-eight passage in Death Valley, the closing Something to Believe).
So? “Awakening” brings both the ferocity of the late eighties and some tricks that are more musical and less thrashy, if not downright carefree, which ties back to the later era of the band’s third and fourth albums. All told, “Awakening” is a beast of its own kind and, at a full 100%, a true Sacred Reich beast. A nice starting point and a confident foundation for, let’s hope, a new era of creating, and above all, a successful return of a legendary band! Let’s hope the next album follows within three years at the latest.
author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Track list:
01. Awakening
02. Divide & Conquer
03. Salvation
04. Manifest Reality
05. Killing Machine
06. Death Valley
07. Revolution
08. Something To Believe
Line-up:
Phil Rind – vocals, bass guitar
Wiley Arnett – guitar
Joey Radziwill – guitar
Dave McClain – drums
