(Trying) to bring back the days of late eighties metal
Fatality states on their website that "they have slowly been taking over the world ever since with the sole purpose of being this genre's last best hope to 'bring back the days of metal...'"
Apparently, we have neo-metal Nazis among the ranks. Since when was there ever a 'pure metal' sound to begin with? Are these UK metal heads to say that death metal, black metal, thrash metal, metalcore, doom metal, symphonic metal, industrial metal, and countless other 'metal' genres are all heathens and should therefore be wiped from the charts as being metal at all? Is there now to be the first Metal-Wide War where the other genres have to team up together to show just how one metal style isn't going to cut it in the music world?
As cool as it may sound, let's hope not.
Fatality does bring the metal to the plate with their debut Metal as Hell: Chapter 1, but it isn't what people may be expecting. Chapter 1 is an apparent tribute to Metallica's debut, Kill 'em All, as all the songs sound EXACTLY like that album (with a pinch of Pantera to boot). From the opening track, "Terminal Aggression," the listener to hear ten seconds into the riffs, the drumming, the vocals, and even the gritty production and say, "Yep, this is Kill 'em All all over again." The vocals are what make this album Pantera-ish, but it doesn't raise an eyebrow or bring the thought, "Wow" to mind. The same can be said for all the other tracks. This isn't exactly original music. Not to say that one can make pure, original music anymore, but the least a band can do is take a style or influence and try to make their own mark in the genre. Fatality just seem to have picked up a Kill 'em All tab and just recycled the music a bit 'till they thought they had something original. Nice try, but no metal masterpiece. The band might as well start calling themselves Fatalica.
But, lo and behold the band actually DOES have something original, or at least not to sound like Metallica. The final track, "Are You Ready to Rock," while stealing some title influence from AC/DC, holds a sound that is very different from the rest of the album. The music is more rock than metal oriental, wandering into Kiss boundaries. The vocals are sung more than rasped so they don't sound like Metallica or Pantera copies and the gang chorus adds a nice effect. Even near the end of the song there's a part where the vocals stand alone which is about the highlight of the album, even if it reminisces Queen's "We Will Rock You."
Ultimately, Fatality is going to have to go back to the writing board and try to come up with something more impressive. Metallica is Metallica and as great as they are/ were/ will be forever, no one can replace or bring back the days of their early music. Fatality will have to find their own niche in their own way if they ever want to be something more than just a semi-album cover band.
(Independent)
