Reviews

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"Attackhead absolutely ROCKS! Blue Dragon had the distinct pleasure of recording their latest CD, "Voices in the Dark" in our Lake Arrowhead studio. Chapman's guitars kick ass! His playing is second to none - absolutely inspired! Cordero's performance on the skins (especially in "Blame") is, without a doubt, some of the best metal I've ever heard! Attackhead is truly a force to be reckoned with!"

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It's great to hear some real, crushing metal played by sincere guys who are in to it because they love music. Listen to their record, start banging your head and remember what it was like to do stage dives off your bed!

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The new disc by Attackhead ripped my face off, tore the cap off my skull, and and scrambled my brains for breakfast! It takes me back to a time when bands like Exodus, and Nuclear Assault ruled the world. Thrashing bass, Insane drum patterns, Scorching duel guitars that would make Slayer shake in their boots and some of the most evil vocals i have ever encountered! Do your self a favor and get this CD now! If you don't, KILL YOURSELF. Your life is not worth living.

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As posted on LouciferSpeaks.com:

I discovered Attackhead one day whilst lurking on CD Maximum. I had a listen to the samples on their page's music player and I was immediately intrigued.

Attackhead describe themselves as "Skull crushing heavy metal with an old school edge". I definitely get sense of of nostalgia when I listen to this album and the 80s Bay Area Thrash influence is incredibly apparent.

The album opens with one of the best spoken word intro tracks ever. Without spoiling it for you and going into too much detail, the words deal with the idea that people feel they can do whatever they like as long as they believe in a higher deity and repent on a Sunday. This is something that I feel is entirely true (although I cannot comment on what happens after we die, which is what the track touches upon). The words are also printed on the CD inlay.

"Voices In The Dark" is an awesomely powerful sounding Thrash track. The riffs chop their way through the song and the vocals make me want to shout along even though I haven't learnt the words yet (I'm nearly there... just not quite!). As well as the Thrash influence, I'm also reminded of bands like Obituary (which is good for me, since I'm such a huge fan of Obi), so I'm sure that Attackhead could also appeal to the Death Metal audience.

The next track, "Infected", is an incredibly infectious track (yes, the cheesy pun was intentional, but I couldn't resist!). This has quickly become one of my favourite tracks (along with "Sweet Sounds of Corruption" - but we'll get to that in a moment). I can't put my finger on exactly why I like it over the others, but the overall rhythm and the mesmerizing guitar solo might have something to do with it.

"Make Me Suffer" is another track that I'd highly recommend. It's a complete adrenaline rush from start to finish and it very rarely lets up. I'd love to witness this track live, or hear it played in a metal club somewhere, just so that I could feed this urge I have to windmill my way through it. The chorus has an almost chant vibe to it and it's near impossible not to sing along.

While "Lead The Blind" is a great track, since it's sandwiched between "Make Me Suffer" and "Sweet Sounds of Corruption" (which are, as you've probably gathered already, awesome) it doesn't get to shine as much as it should. It's certainly worth having a listen to though.

The drums at the beginning of "Sweet Sounds of Corruption" just let you know that you're in for a treat, and the combination of clean and rough vocals proves to be highly successful. This track is at a slower pace than the others, but it definitely proves that speed isn't everything. As I mentioned earlier, this one of my favourites from the album.

"Blame" contains some fantastic lyrics - "Send our boys to die ego trip / His own private war never quit / People have no say wasted words / No democracy how absurd".

"Dark Ritual" is a song that I've become absolutely addicted to at work at the moment. The pace, the lyrics... everything is spot on! The changes in tempo really succeed in keeping the track interesting.

When I saw the track name for the next song, I was keen to know what it stood for. I soon found out that "F.F.P" actually stands for "Fuck, Fight Piss (right in your face)". The lyrics to this song are perfect for when I'm pissed off with work (which is most of the time right now). The general melody is also damn catchy.

The subject matter for the lyrics for "Waste Of Life" and it's overall sound really brings that old school metal influence home. In this track Attackhead prove once again that they're capable of pulling off some brain melting guitar solos!

"Tazer Intro" contains a few screams of pain before we're launched into "Tazer". "Tazer" is an instrumental tracks which really shows of the band's talents. It also closes the album perfectly and the tone of the guitar in the solo is magnificent.

In conclusion, this is an album that NEEDS to be in your music collection.

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As Posted on Metal Coven Fanzine (German to English translation, not totally accurate)

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This CD came across my desk for review and the total fucking thrashiness appealed to me. It definitely is reminiscent of the Bay Area thrash scene from yesteryear so it was nice to see another band keeping the faith. As I listen to CDs, I often peruse the CD covers and they were saying something on the cover about people being under the impression that as long as they have insurance in the afterlife (i.e. a belief in a higher power and prayer and sitting in the church house on Sundays), then they can do however they please. That definitely struck a chord with me because that's just how these hypocritical Christian folk are. I definitely give them kudos for that one. There are great chops on this release as well as some good solos. I really dug "Sweet Sounds Of Corruption" because I like the drums on it. The songs are nice and catchy and as I listen to the CD more and more I find myself singing along. I am quite thankful to the boys for sending this to me. Thrash on my brothers!

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This band was unknown to me until I joined Louciferspeaks. They have an "old school" feel to there heavy metal music which is what I love about them. It's just old fashioned head banging at it's best. They are probably the best heavy metal band I have heard since the 80's.

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Thrash Metal and Traditional Heavy Metal are like father and son and then when you meld them together, you usually get good results out of it, especially when you try to make 80’s oriented Metal music. Attackhead are just the guys, at the right time, to bring you all the aggression and beauty of this great sub-genre meld. With their first release, you will be able to see and feel how good the father and son relationship is.

First, let's get to know the boys from Orange County, California, USA. In 2002, vocalist and guitarist, Mark Chapman founded the newborn monster, Attackhead. This monster brought the mixture of NWOBHM, a'la Iron Maiden, and Thrash Metal a'la Slayer and Testament. Let’s say that in this release, Slayer rules the influence department along with bits and pieces of NWOBHM. Along the way the band couldn’t establish itself because of many lineup changes. Finally, in 2007, after being able to sustain a full time line-up, they officially started their journey in the Metal world. In 2008 Attackhead released its first full-length album, Voices In The Dark, which comes to kick your asses you Thrashers out there!

Voices In The Dark was Mark Chapman’s baby as far as in regards to the production. Chapman, with an 80’s spirit in his veins, designed a well-done 80’s Thrash / Heavy Metal sound that reflects anger and aggression yet it has its soft spots of the early stages of NWOBHM. Like on Slayer’s albums, since their 1994’s Divine Intervention, the sound, overall, is gloomy and dark, yet when it comes to the guitar solos, they lash out as screams in the dark – a phrase which is well suited to the album’s title. Every instrument here sounds clear; you can even enjoy some lead bass, a'la Iron Maiden, in several songs by the bassist, Christian Bargados.

For the analysis, you can take Voices In The Dark and divide it into two unequal parts. The first part is almost 100% Slayer-ish addiction of their late era with a couple of samples from the early Traditional Heavy Metal (tracks 1-8). The Second part conveys the word of the NWOBHM with mini-sections of Speed / Thrash Metal (9-12).

In section one there are some great tracks that will not shame Slayer. One of the great contributors to that element, beyond the music and the one-ton of strong lyrical themes, is Chapman’s voice, which seems very similar to Tom Araya’s but sometimes even rougher.

When turning to the music you can only sit back and enjoy. “Dark Ritual” is by far the most "Slayery" stuff of this release, for Slayer fans, this one will bring tears to your eyes when you hear the song’s intro, main riffs and the diabolical solo made by Q Chapman or by his talented companion on the guitars, George Portoulas. The track “Blame” starts with lead bass and good drumming by Steve Cordero and builds to an attacking rhythm that spits out criticism about the filthy / dirty corporate bastards. Along with the strong rhythm, there are the melodic lead guitar breaks of Maiden, which after a while turns back to the monster that attacked earlier. “Sweet Sounds Of Corruption” is, to say it, the “catchy” side of this section. A mostly mid-tempo tune, it kicks in with a nice chorus with Chapman’s average ability as far as clean vocals goes, but this one also has its strong moments of momentum. “Voices In The Dark” is where everything begins, the best one after “Dark Ritual” , a great Slayer oriented song with an awesome main rhythm section. Although it has a pretty banal chorus technique, it’s still breaks heads. “Infected” and “Lead The Blind” are both rather influenced by the old era of Slayer of the mid 80’s. The riffs of these songs are very much like Slayer’s. “Infected” has a mind blowing main rhythm section and “Lead The Blind” follows in the same steps.

The small section number two acknowledges the NWOBHM, rather the Thrashiness of Slayer from the first section. “F.F.P” (Fuck , Fight , Piss – how nice), has a march like intro until it sparkles with a 1980-1982 rhythmic feel that will make you think it’s a British Metal act on display here. The main riffs are easy to maintain, yet they go great with Chapman’s clean vocals. Aside from the main riffs there is the charging riff of the chorus and the unmerciful double bass attacks. “Waste Of Life” is a nice track, not the thrilling type, although it has great rhythms and pre-chorus surprise attacks. This one has Maiden bass parts and the fast-paced Motörheadish and Punky patterns.

Closing the album, there is “Tazer”, which has a funny intro of a guy electrocuting others. The Instrumental itself is a purely Iron Maiden style of the early 80’s with some lone harder elements. The mid-track melodic trills are almost like in “Phantom Of The Opera” and the harmonic solos are well performed.

Attackhead came as a signal to other bands to keep the 80’s spirit alive and to show that Thrash / Heavy Metal still kicks ass and that you can mosh with it and break each other’s bodies. This album is like Attackhead announced – “Skull Crushing Heavy Metal With An Old School Edge” – you bet they made it happen!

Lior "Steinmetal" Stein

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The group plays an old school head banging, bone crunching metal that will thrash your teeth out. The days of California thrash are back and I am definitely on board.

The blistering drums and wicked guitars remind me of the good old days of Slayer and DRI. The band however brings a fresh sound to this old sound and thank god we are once again saved!!

You should go check them out I promise as you listen to songs like "Dark Ritual" and "Waste Of Life" you will absolutely thrash your metal head!!!

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