Solid old-school thrash is the featured style on the Roadrunner Records debut from North Carolina's Sactity. Road to Bloodshed serves up 12 tracks of melodic, technical, modern thrash, long on fat, beefy riffs, blazing solos, slamming drums, and powerful vocals. Taking their cue from Trivium and Unearth, but owing more to vintage Testament, Anthrax, Metallica, and Megadeth, Sanctity have a real winner here that is heavy enough to play with the big boys but with enough commercial appeal to carve a niche with a more mainstream audience.
Who can resist such scrumptuous riff-o-rama as what you get all over the opening 1-2 punch of "Beneath the Machine" and "Brotherhood of Destruction"? Singer/guitarist Jared Maceachern hits some great vocal melodies on the catchy yet speedy title track, while he and lead guitarist Zeff Childress really crank out some intense thrash on the monstrous "Laws of Reason", with Maceachern sounding a bit like Chuck Billy behind the mic. Complex riffs and the raging drum work from Jeremy London are featured on the catchy yet crushing "Billy Seals", and Childress really shows his fretwork prowess on the melodic "Zeppo". The band approaches Swedish melodic death metal on the manic "Beloved Killer", with a touch of Testament and Judas Priest influence thrown in for good measure, and churn out some stunning riffs on the boiling "The Shape of Things".
The story goes that Matt Heafy from Trivium recommended Sanctity to Roadrunner A&R mogul Monte Conner, prompting the band getting signed to their record deal. While there are slight similarities to Trivium here, I'd say that Sanctity got their deal based pretty much on their talent and songwriting skills. Road to Bloodshed is a very solid and enjoyable melodic thrash album, filled with strong vocals and killer guitar work. Chances are if you attend plenty of metal concerts you've seen these guys opening up for quite a few popular metal bands over the last year or so, and now that the CD is finally out, expect their profile to shine even more. Believe the hype folks, this is good stuff.
Track Listing
1. Beneath the Machine
2. Brotherhood of Destruction
3. Road to Bloodshed
4. Laws of Reason
5. Billy Seals
6. Zeppo
7. Beloved Killer
8. The Rift Between
9. Flatline
10. The Shape of Things
11. Seconds
12. Once Again
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