Review: Eradikator – Edge of Humanity

Click for bigness
Click for bigness

Listening to Eradikator you could be forgiven for thinking they were all about fifty and came from the Bay Area of San Francisco. In fact, they’re all significantly younger and come from the birthplace of more classic metal, Birmingham.

James actually caught them earlier this year supporting Death Angel and was quite impressed with their no-nonsense thrash sound and upcoming release Edge of Humanity demonstrates that niche perfectly. Their sound is most definitely influenced by the classic bands and, to my ear, Metallica more than most. Opener “Mesmerised” has a very “Whiplash” feel in places, while the second track, “Man Behind The Mask” reminds me more of “The Shortest Straw” in places. Importantly, if you’re going to be influenced by a band, make sure those influences are from before said band became shit.

Don’t get me wrong. Eradikator aren’t a Metallica knock off by any stretch. Vocalist Pat is more like a cross between Exodus’ Steve Souza and Testament’s Chuck Billy in terms of sound, and you can actually hear his bass which means that drummer Jon isn’t an egotistical dick like certain other famous tub-thumpers… Liam and Andy share guitar duties which range from simple chugging rhythms on the title track to blistering solos on “Seasons of Rage” and “Dead Hands of the Past”.

Edge of Humanity is a homage to pretty much every classic thrash act you care to name in one place or another, while still being as original as a genre album can be – given that this style of music has been around for nigh on four decades. It’s like a “best of” without the original songs, and so many styles and sounds have been plucked from a quality back-catalogue and rebuilt into new monsters.

The twin guitars leading into “Fortress Unknown” evoke the likes of Judas Priest and by the time we hit closer “Kairo’s Passing”, the cleaner guitar sound is more reminiscent of Testament’s longer, more melodic outings. That, thankfully, is as “light” as the album goes. There are no ballads, no hard rock experiments and no duets with the frontmen from generic alt-rock bands *cough*LuLu*cough*.

Edge of Humanity is a solid, reliable thrash album and – like a handful coming through these days – shows that there’s plenty of life in the old headbanging genre yet.

Edge of Humanity is out on November 6th in the UK/EU (the US got it on September 11th)

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