Havok ~ Time Is Up (album review) ... Brutal heart attack in the making!

Style: thrash, speed metal, heavy metal
Label: Candlelight Records
Year: 2011
Home: Denver, Colorado

Members: David Sanchez ~ vocals/guitars
Reece Scruggs ~ lead guitar/b. vocals
Jesse de los Santos ~ bass/b. vocals
Pete Webber ~ drums

 

I'd never heard of Havok when I stumbled up on this album on youtube. It seems they've been together since 2004 & continue to pound the skins, though with a regularly changing membership leaving only one original member. Time Is Up is their second release, following their 2009 debut. 3 albums followed in 2013, 2017 & 2020, which might explain why I've not heard of them as they've not had the regular output like other bands. To their credit they have toured with Primal Fear, Sepultura, Anthrax, 3 Inches Of Blood, Mayhem, Exodus, Testament, Cannibal Corpse, Symphony X, among others. Time Is Up, according to wikipedia, was a critical favorite & called a defining moment of the New Wave Of Thrash Metal of the mid-2000's. I'm feeling really out of touch, as I didn't know there was a thrash revival, though I was also living abroad for a few years & unaware of new American releases. I'm also not the biggest thrash fan in general, though I love Megadeth. Yet, even if I'm not a huge fan, these guys are brutal & heart attack inducing. If you like Slayer you'll like them. Actually, you'll love this, as they actually sound more like Slayer than not. That translates to good but not so creative music. This is pretty much by the book thrash. Pounding double bass to give you a heart attack, hardcore riffing & shredding, nimble finger whammy bar solos, & understandable shouted lyrics of revolution. Its good, but the songs blend together & you'll not likely remember anything unique about this band to set them apart after the fact. They sound like classic thrash, almost too much, but are worth hearing for the crunch & fierceness. "Fatal Intervention", the early Megadeth-esque "Killing Tendencies & the guitar onslaught "D.O.A." are a few highlights that stood out to me. Check these 3 tracks out if you don't know if you want to hear it all. If you like these, than tune in for the rest. Its not bad, but its not history making or template breaking.