Album review: THE RESISTANCE – Scars

April 16th, 2013 by david.wilson

earMUSIC [Release Date – 10.05.13]

What is heavy music ? A One Direction fan may consider Bon Jovi heavy, whereas a Bon Jovi fan may consider Iron Maiden heavy. He or she in turn may consider Slayer heavy, but what about the Slayer fans, where do they go ?? The answer is Scars by The Resistance.

I reviewed The Resistance’s debut EP a few weeks ago and stated that if the band could produce the same quality and intensity over the course of an album as they had on the EP then they would have a cracking album on their hands. The guys obviously listened as this is one hell of an album.

Opening track ‘Clearing The Slate’ begins with a cry of ‘fire in the hole!’ which is quite apt as the track sounds like someone dropping a hand-grenade in each of your ears such is the ferocity of the band’s delivery.

The band are led by Jesper Stromblad who was the guitarist with In Flames for many years and his monolithic riffs are the basis of each track. Pummelling your senses even further is a sledgehammer rhythm section comprising Glenn Ljungstrom, also an ex In Flames man and Chris Barkensjo from Grave. Completing the package is frontman Marco Aro ex singer of The Haunted, together the guys have years of experience and it shows.

Stromblad has described the band’s music as ‘just awesome death metal’, couldn’t have put it better myself. All tracks are classic death metal of the highest calibre. Tracks like ‘To The Death’, ‘I Bend–You Break’ and ‘Eye For An Eye’ are amazingly well written and are heavy in the extreme.

The pace rarely slackens and each track arrives like a police raid at your door. The album title track ‘Scars’ in particular is guaranteed to turn any circle pit into a warzone, 3:30 minutes of pent up energy that would shame nuclear fission. ‘(I Will) Die Alone’ rounds things off at a slightly more sedate pace with a churning riff that that gives way to a great drum led mid section which brings the album to a close in epic fashion.

The Resistance have come up with an album that is destined to be hailed as a classic in years to come. Any self-respecting metal fan should get a copy of this in their collection as soon as possible, as believe me, things don’t get much heavier than this !

*****

David Wilson

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09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Rock)
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