At first glance, when I saw a tank on the cover, I had my reservations about this CD. By looking in the booklet, seeing three dudes behaving like morons, wearing army equipment (gas mask, helmet, bullet belt, grenades etc…), I figured this would probably be a pretty lame album.
Out of Chicago, these guys (Matt War, Xaphan and Pit Viper) are playing some generic American Heavy Metal. Nothing out of the ordinary, really nothing people. This music is energetic; the compositions are rather simple and repetitive. The overall feel is like a mixture of rock and punk treated with Heavy Metal artillery. Could we label this stuff as war metal? Maybe, you'll be the judge; that is if you get to (unfortunately) listen this album. Nonetheless, I surprisingly enjoyed somewhat a couple tracks on Wardrive, believe it or not! The winning numbers are: 6 & 8. The first one, "Knee Deep in the Dead", has a mid paced tempo, some keyboards and feature nice clean arpeggios. Then, on "Frost Storm", dark key tones, distorted arpeggios, ambient passages, even some acoustic guitars and a bit of an epic edges, seem to indicate that those fellows can actually compose music!
Wardrive does have some moments, but all in all, a release that won't leave a good and lasting impression in any memory.
Track Listing
1 - Intro
2 - Wardrive
3 - Days of Hell
4 - Desert Law
5 - Mindsweeper
6- Knee Deep in the Dead
7 - Baptized in Ashes
8 - Frost Storm
9 - Final Combat
10- Wastelander