On disc: Perzonal War

 
 When Times Turn Red
 
- Alex Albrecht -
 
 


 
 Bloodline
 
- Claudia Ehrhardt -
 
 


 
 Captive Breeding
 
- Lars Bjørn -
 
 

Captive Breeding

(Metalville Records - 2012)



 
 

 

Now there is news from the German metal band Perzonal War. They try to make a more sharp impression as they have added a new guitarist, Andreas Ballnus to the ranks, a the result could be valuable in the long terms. Their kind of heavy metal is where the drums dominate totally, and giving some of the songs a staccato like rhythm, but besides from that the new album mostly of middle quality in the songwriting process. Regression Of The Art opens up with totally hard powerful metal with lots of great guitar work. Tongues Of Cleavage is a travel to the 80's with monster metal in the old school style. Dead Man's Theories also provides a massive power source with good rhythm metal and a fantastic sharp attitude in the song. As an example of Perzonal War's ability to make different kinds of metal we get a splendid melodic and slow song called Candor Hurts. That is creativity to come from metal music makers who know what they are dealing with.

 
 










Lars Bjørn


  
up 













Bloodline

(AFM Records - 2008)



 
 

 

This is the sixth album of German thrashers Perzonal War how often got compared to Metallica - due to Matthias Zimmer's voice which sounds quite a lot like Hetfield. But musically they always added some other elements to the thrashy sound and develop their own sound little by little.

The opening track is called Evolution and shows some new new influences. The up-tempo tune is quite heavy and guitar-wise seems to be influenced by In Flames.... A modern thrash tune which crosses the borders to metalcore. The bridge / chorus is catchy and makes it easy to get into the tune. On the following Utopia they present their first guest on Bloodline. Victor Smolski added a great solo. And again the song has some references to some Swedish modern metal, but at the same time it distance them from Metallica. The vocal melody line make me think of Mercenary a bit... Towards the end they use distorted vocals which gives the tune a different atmosphere. And it gets even heavier! All Sides Black shows them with pounding drums and heavy shredded riffs. Perzonal War developed a much harder sound then on their previous releases - and so tend more to the metalcore scene now. Next song and another step closer to Gothenborg! Not as fast as the previous one, but with a murderous sound! The guitars steamroll you! Dead Meaning offers not just a wall of guitars, they slow down and use effect on the vocals for a moment. More mid-tempo, but with groove and power they present themselves on this one. Personally this is my highlight on the album so far! On the next two tracks they get a helping hand again. On Two Borders they get supported by Schmier and Sacred Reich's Wiley Amett. But thrash metal fans will recognize Schmier's voice anyway. And with the help of these two they speed up again and get really heavy and thrashy. On Shred you hear Manni Schmidt (Grave Digger, ex-Rage) on guitar and former Grip Inc. singer Gus Chambers with Perzonal War. It can be said that Perzonal War present 2 different sides on Bloodline - the fast, thrashy side and the more mid-tempo, melodic and catchy one. Dying Face fits into the later one.

With their latest piece of work Perzonal War can step out of the Metallica shadow even more. And even if there are reminiscences to the Gothenborg scene their sound got more originality. To check Bloodline out, I recommend: Evolution, Dead Meaning, Two Borders and Dying Face.
 
 










Claudia Ehrhardt


  
up 










When Times Turn Red

(AFM Records - 2005)



 
 

 

The German quintet are around for about a decade and their last releases always had some reminiscences to Metallica. Especially singer / guitarist Matthias Zimmer sounded like Hetfield. During the last 2 years they played with bands like Blaze, Rage and just these days a few shows with Candlemass and Destruction. It seems like the experience of the last months has taken its toll. The guys are still playing thrash metal, but have other elements included and are now somewhere between thrash and power metal. Beside that Matthias Zimmer developed as a singer and found his own style, even if there are a few similarities to Mr. Hetfield.

With songs like In Flames or the title track When Times Turn Red they show that they still can thrash, but with My Conspiracy they present power metal with a touch of Nevermore. Or listen to New Age which brings Paradise Lost up. Their sound has more variety now. They don't copy these bands and mainly the down tuned guitars let you think of Nevermore. On stage they already have had this changed sound for awhile, but now they are able to ban this new sound on tape. Well done!
 
 










Alex Albrecht
(translation: Claudia Ehrhardt)


  
up 





 
           ©2008-2014 by Claudia Ehrhardt • E-Mail: contact@ice-vajal.com