Spellbound - Nothing But the Truth (2015)

While their first two records could hardly be dubbed impressive, Germans Spellbound have consistently proven to be purveyors of a fairly rare, lost art among the thrash crowd. That is to say, the full-package, dynamic songwriting style that birthed some of the largest names in the genre, Metallica at the foremost, but this was a skill often mirrored by other West Coast acts like Testament and at the very least attempted by bands worldwide, from Australia's Mortal Sin to England's Xentrix, to several of the Germans' countrymen, even if the faster, nastier Trinity of Teutonic Thrash held sway in that particular court. To be more specific, the composition's goals consist of big hooks, verse/chorus interplay, meticulously crafted leads that could hold their own with the rhythm riffing, enough of a neck jerking energy to keep them well within the genre's parameters, and approachable standards which held more of a mass appeal than the dirtnap speed and thrash existing on the niche's edge.

Nothing But the Truth accomplishes all of these to an extent, while rarely cocking up the formula that structures its more successful songs, a trait that sadly eluded the older efforts, which had only a scant handful of memorable cuts at best. The riffing is powerful, albeit familiar enough that a lot of the individual progressions will remind you of this or that and then twist it slightly away from the pure predictability a lot of us dread when listening to today's latest wave of pizza-thrashers. The leads here are very well balanced to offer an emotional payoff without completely outdistancing the blue collar, 'mellow' or melodic, mid-paced thrash rhythms that make up the bulk of the play length. When they pick up the thrust, you're remind purely of the picking patterns made famous by bands like Exodus, Testament or Metallica, but the overall mood here is 'steady wins the race', and that can often give this a laid back feel, sort of similar to New England's own Meliah Rage, only I feel like the writing here is a little more optimistic and immediately sticky on the ear. Reinforcing that comparison are the vocals of David Maier, melodic and edgy in the Hetfield vein which front men like Mike Munro, Chuck Billy and Mat Maurer ran off with.

The guitars sound great on this album, clear for the various leads, melodies and excess rock hero squeals while potent and punchy enough for a pit of intoxicated 40-somethings reliving their glory days, which I'd imagine might be the primary audience for this band, or those younglings who are trying to emulate that demographic. I happen to be among that first crowd, only somewhat less intoxicated on an average day, so I felt the pangs of nostalgia. Bass isn't a strong point here, but enough else is going on that you'll be distracted away from noticing, especially when the dozen or so really strong guitar riffs set off, forcing more replay value than I would have expected from my experience with either Nemesis 2665 or Incoming Destiny. There are a few slight misfires here, like the obligatory power-thrash ballad "Dying in the Dirt" which doesn't quite hit the payoff it wants to, however they aren't quite awful, and easily forgiven by the wealth of improvements they've made elsewhere. If you're into the more accessible spectrum of trad metal-tinted thrash I've mentioned above, or younger bands like Evile and After All, then this one is worth a listen.

Verdict: Win [7.25/10]

http://www.spellbound-alliance.de/

Spellbound - Nemesis 2665 (2007)

Spellbound's 2005 debut Incoming Destiny was nothing ultimately that I'd write home about. It had some promise, the band sounded full of life and they performed a non-stupid branch of thrash that rekindled the fire for the 80s Bay Area without all the lamentable fashionista trappings, but the music itself was just not that inspiring. Since that time, the band picked up a good deal of praise from some veterans of the German thrash scene, like Schmier (Destruction), Sabine Classen (Holy Moses) and even Gerre of Tankard, which the band displays over at their website. Well, along comes the band's sophomore Nemesis 2665, with a cool cover and the possibility of some interesting future concept album, and it falls flat it just about every direction...

How did they garner such praise with tracks like these? Nemesis 2665 is nothing but average thrashing, still thick in the Bay Area style (Metallica, Exodus, etc) but very rarely able to conjure up a riff that is even remotely memorable. The debut had some promise in its opening moments, and then fizzled in quality. But this is pretty bleak from the onset, with a bevy of guitars that didn't sound like they took more than a few moments and a cursory knowledge of the 80s classics to compose. The Andy Classen production gives it a thickness, but no spiffy engineering job is going to create an impression of what's written here, and songs like "Demons Deadly Sins", "Pernicious Alliance", and "The Wall", while attempting to elevate themselves in the chorus segments and create reasonable moshing breakdowns, all flitter directly out the opposite ear through which they enter.

A few of the later tunes like "Back in the Thrash" or the melodic epic "Celestial Death/The Nemesis" attempt to up the enthusiasm and ante, but they fail to do much more than simply exist, and the cover of Exodus' "And There Were None" sounds paltry compared to the original, the vocals lacking all the original bite and venom. The gloss of promise that graced the Incoming Destiny debut has almost entirely evaporated here, and while there's nothing truly terrible about the album, it just can't compete in the wide world of modern thrash without the songs to back it up, no matter how many old schoolers sing it lip service. These guys can do much better than this, so let's hear it.

Verdict: Indifference [5.75/10]

http://www.spellboundalliance.de/

Spellbound - Incoming Destiny (2005)

For the loyal thrasher who is tired of hearing the repetition of so many 80s concepts to the letter, a band like Spellbound initially promises something exciting. They'd been kicking around for some years before this debut through Armageddon Music, producing a number of demos, until their signing coincided with the whirlwind rebirth of thrash popularity by the middle of the past decade. They also set this album up pretty well with an escalating guitar into and a reasonably fist pumping title track, with guitars that fall somewhere between Exodus and Artillery, and vicious throaty vocals that conjure up comparisons to German gods Kreator, Destruction, Tankard and Vendetta!

And then, they proceed to lose some momentum over the next 40 minutes...

The problem here is not one of sound, as they've got a lot more studio polish to them than many other, younger thrash acts, and the guitars have a loud crunch to them with carefully balanced melodies and solos, but really it's just a diminishing return in the riff department. Tracks like "Incoming Destiny", "The Hollow" and "Trust in the Fire" all maintain a persistent, if mid-paced thrust akin to By Inheritance, Master of Puppets or Impact is Imminent, but the writing is like a mash of riffs off those albums with almost no memorable patterns of notation. They rarely if ever break out into more than an Exodus chugging gallop, and despite the solidarity, the notes become incredibly predictable, with few fills worth hearing twice. Once in a while, they'll tuck something superior in the depths of a song, like the bridge of "View to Remote" or the chilly leads of "Focus 22", but the album seems to burn out after the first 10 minutes ("Incoming Destiny" and "Arrival of the Gods").

This is really a shame, because those first songs, while not themselves perfect or even close to cult remembrance, hint at a band who are not simply resting on the laurels of what has come before. Sure, you can trace individual riffs back to the sources they were derived from, but it feels like such a fresh coat of paint that just gradually flecks away in the sunlight of the lacking compositional ability. Incoming Destiny is by no means a bad debut album, but it betrays its early lead and falls way back into the middle of the pack. Not much retro stupidity here, and for a brief instant you will feel the same exhilaration you might have felt when hearing bands like Tankard, Exodus and Vendetta in the mid to late 80s, but its passing while not surpassing hinders its durability.

Verdict: Indifference [6.5/10]

http://www.spellboundalliance.de/en/