Album: Tactical
Release: 2011
Artist: World Under Blood
Label: Nuclear Blast
Track Listing: 1) A God Among The Waste 2) Into the Arms of Cruelty 3) Pyro-Compulsive 4) Dead and Still in Pain 5) Purgatory Dormitory 6) Under the Autumn Low 7) I Can’t Stand His Name 8) Revere’s Tears 9) Wake Up Dead (Megadeth cover)
Tactical is the long awaited debut album from melodic death metal band World Under Blood. Formed by CKY frontman, Deron Miller and Divine Heresy drummer, Tim Yeung, the band have been releasing tracks since 2006, gradually building up attention via their MySpace page. As the group’s founders made space from their other projects, World Under Blood eventually signed to Nuclear Blast Records in 2009 and were ready to complete their first album.
Their debut opens with the impressive A God Among The Waste. A calculated blend of death metal, rhythmic variation and melodic hooks is executed well and is elevated by supreme musicianship and a tight production. The album looks set to be a cracker. Unfortunately, the well-crafted song writing doesn’t follow through with Into the Arms of Cruelty and Pyro-Compulsive being predictable blast-beat infected affairs. To their credit, the former track is comparable to mid-nineties Death material, although it fails to be anywhere near as memorable.
Dead and Still in Pain conjures up some of the magic displayed in the opener and the blast beats feel more appropriate, contributing to the light and shade of the song. The track builds up momentum before breaking into an excellent mellow outro section which ends far too prematurely, a second guitar solo would have been much appreciated. Purgatory Dormitory sounds like a filler and is a return to the uninspired formula fuelled by generic riffage and general noise. Under the Autumn Low and I Can’t Stand His Name both have their moments but the album doesn’t pick up again until Revere’s Tears. The track in question is another journey through a landscape of soft and harsh textures and builds itself up as being something of an epic before ending rather abruptly. Further development on numbers such as this and Dead and Still in Pain would have strengthened the album to a higher level. The record closes with an enjoyable cover of Megadeth’s thrash classic Wake Up Dead, although this particular rendition doesn’t offer much variation over the original to make it particularly worthwhile.
All in all, Tactical is a mixed bag that contains some brief glimmers of quality and potential amongst a collection of missed opportunity. The band should see this as a stepping stone upon which to build their identity with future releases.
Rating: [5]
TTT:
1) A God Among The Waste
2) Revere’s Tears
3) Dead and Still in Pain
Reviewed by: Daniel Aston, 02/08/2011
