Flames are finally back with, the aptly titled “Resurgence”, their first album since 1996 and it’s a great slice of Thrash/Death Metal with fabulous production and mixing, courtesy of the always excellent Bob Katsionis and I, for one, am very happy to see them return.
Now, some of you younger Metal fans, are probably looking at your computer screens saying WHO? Well, for those of you who haven’t heard of Flames, you’ve got some catching up to do but I guarantee you’ll enjoy delving through their back catalogue.
Flames, from Greece, were originally formed in 1984 by brothers Chris and Andy Kirk, from 1985-1996, we got six albums and a live EP and they became a pretty well-known and important band on the Greek scene. I first heard of them in about 1988 and, being a huge fan of Speed/Thrash Metal, always enjoyed their output. They now split their time between Greece and Germany and I had wondered if we would ever get another album. Well “Resurgence” has arrived, with the brothers still at the helm plus long-time vocalist/guitarist Thomas Trampouras, and newish drummer Nick Samios (check out the list of bands Nick has been in on the Metal Archives, it is seriously long) and if you love some Kreator and Sodom then this bunch will be very much up your street.
Opening with just a single guitar, ‘Keeper Of The Burning Flame’ is a suitably evil and short instrumental before the band launch into the thunderous and thrashtastic title track. This is followed by ‘Crawl Beyond’, ‘Rotten Life’, ‘Murder Taste’ and ‘War In Mind’, all good tracks, but if I have one tiny complaint then it is that the fast sections are all quite similar to each other. However, the first half of the album still flies by and your neck will definitely be sore.
‘The Crib’ is the first track that really mixes up the tempos, containing some chunky medium paced sections that stomp like a size 12 to the face. ‘Mercy Denied’ also splits things up well and is excellent and ‘Shell Shocked (Western Front)’ is an album highlight. ‘Yourself Unknown’, ‘H8red’ and CD bonus track ‘Legend III (The Final War) bring the album to a suitably bombastic close and then I immediately pressed play again.
There are no bad tracks here, although I definitely prefer the second half of the album due to the tracks being more varied. Musicianship is excellent throughout, everything sounds like a pounding hammer and the artwork is great. It’s awesome to see Flames return with such a good comeback album and I hope we can look forward to more in the future.
Track List:
01. Keeper Of The Burning Flame
02. Resurgence
03. Crawl Beyond
04. Rotten Life
05. Murder Taste
06. War In Mind
07. The Crib
08. Mercy Denied
09. Shell Shocked (Western Front)
10. Yourself Unknown
11. H8red
12. Legend III (The Final War) (CD Bonus Track)
Band Members:
Tom Trampouras – Guitars/Vocals
Chris “R.B. Lee” Kirk – Guitars
Andy Kirk – Bass Guitar
Nick “Yngve” Samios – Drums
This review is purely the property of Richard Tilley and The Metal Asylum