CD Title: Havoc System
Year: 2008
Website: havocsystem.co.uk
MySpace: myspace.com/havocsystem
Label: None
Featured on: Loucifer Speaks and wherever else I can find to spread the word!
Rating: 9.9 / 10
More Links: Havoc System Forum on Loucifer Speaks
Havoc System are another band that I've had the pleasure of discovering recently... Well, I didn't 'discover' them. I'm sure other people were already aware of them before me, but you get what I mean.
This EP/Demo consists of five tracks. Five tracks that I've been playing constantly (at a high volume) this morning. There's a mouthwatering mixture of Thrash, Death Metal and straight up Heavy Metal... and the Carcass-like vocals definitely earn extra points with me!
Things are kicked-off with "Restless Soul. This track begins with a lovely little riff that seems full of intent. I'm not completely sure what the intention is, but if it's anything to do with getting me all excited and bangin' my head, then it's definitely been achieved.
"Relentless, Unstoppable" was the first song I heard from the band (in fact, it was featured in one of the Loucifer Speaks Podcasts - Click here to listen to it.) and, for me, it pretty much sums up what the band is about. They are relentless and they are unstoppable as they tear through your ear drums and lodge themselves firmly into your brain. This track has everything you could possibly want from a metal song in it - jaw-droppingly good riffs, an obscene amount of energy, 'extreme' vocals that still remain understandable (to a degree!), a fantastic drum beat, an awesome rhythm... and... er... violins... Trust me, it works very well indeed.
"Into The Metaverse" has the catchiest vocals on the EP. I'm still not completely sure about what's being said here, so I won't embarrass myself by quoting any lines, but there's something addictive about the phrasing.
The title "Destructor" conjures up images of denim and leather, of beer and backpatches... it just has a Traditional/80s Thrash Metal sound to it, doesn't it? Anyway, the track itself does have a Thrash influence in it, and I'm sure the band wouldn't mind if you wore denim and leather while listening to it, but it's definitely not something that's escaped from 1986. While there are definitely some of those influences there, there are also some modern one's too. On a completely different note, the lead guitar is definitely worth checking out in this track!
For me, "Pillars of Creation" holds the strongest Death Metal influence out of all of the tracks here (even though it's clear on all of them, this track just seems to have focussed on it a little bit more) and, because of this, the track is more aggressive.
All in all, this is an impressive little CD and I can't wait to hear more from the band. I feel I have been extremely positive in this review, but that's purely because I like it so much... In fact, I can't think of a single bad thing to say about it...