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With the
reunification of Destruction a new Headhunter album seemed unlikely, but
Schmier has once again shown he’s full of surprises, as AFM talked about
reissuing the bands first three albums, the seed of an idea fermented in
Schmier’s head to reform Headhunter with his old sparing partners
Schmuddel and Jorg Michael, the result of which is 'Parasite Of Society’.
Unlike the
Destruction albums Headhunter have always been more of a Melodic Thrash
Band (if there is such a thing), where as Destruction is all out Brain
Crushing Thrash.
Don’t get me
wrong 'Parasite Of Society' isn’t a meek minded album, there is still a
degree of storming guitars to keep the Metalheads happy, but there is also
a degree of Power Metal about it, although a diamond in the rough the
album is without a doubt a Headhunter album through and through.
Things get
underway with the merry little intro ‘3rd Man Introduction’
before the title track ‘Parasite Of Society’. Instantly you're
thrown into a mass of soaring guitars and Schmier’s angst filled vocals,
against the pummelling and monstrous bass and double kick drum that the
band have made their own.
As the tattoo
needle leads into ‘Silverskull’, the more Metal sound of the band is
heard. The angst vocals are still there but there is a more rocking
feel to this one and Schmuddel drives out some sterling licks and shows
he’s more than just a shred machine.
‘Remission’ is
another fine example of how Headhunter differ from Schmier’s material with
Destruction. This almost haunting melodic metal thunders along like
a Rhino grazing in the Serengeti, you know it could turn into a rampaging
monster at any moment and so you respect the animal for what it is not and
for what it's actually doing at that particular moment in time.
This point in
fact is shown as things soon get back to the metal rampage with ‘Doomsday
For The Prayer’ as Schmuddel leads out the attack again with Michael and
Schmier battering the senses with a mighty backbeat.
The album has
two very different covers on it the first being Skid Rows ’18 And Life’,
which is definitely given the Headhunder treatment without disrespecting
the original. This is more heads down version with Schmeir’s vocals
rasping through the song like a switch blade razor, while Schmuddel rings
out his own unique style on the solo’s.
The album
continues with the excellent riff laden ‘Read My Lips’ and the equally
impressive pounding metal of ‘Back To The Wall’, this one has a definite
Priest guitar vibe about it with Schmuddel managing to squeeze both KK
Downing’s and Glenn Tipton’s parts out of one guitar, great stuff.
It's back up to
full speed for ‘Egomaniac’, probably the nearest the album gets to the Bay
Area Thrash of the 80’s but without straying too far from the rest of the
album, for those who aren’t quite into the whole Thrash thing but like a
little speed metal now and again.
‘The Calling’ is
another great guitar fuelled track that paves the way for ‘Payback Time’,
a truly modern metal classic this one big dirty guitar sound mixed with
Schmier’s vocals make this one really shine.
The album closes
with the second of the cover versions, this time the band pay tribute to
one of the biggest Metal bands around with Judas Priest’s ‘Rapid Fire’.
This magnificent version closes what is sure to be another towering
success for Headhunter so let's hope this time around the band get the
praise the deserve and when the band play this years Wacken Open Air, I’m
sure the crowd won't be disappointed. |
