Nail Within – Sound of Demise
Reviewed by: Jim Harrison
Review Score: 9.0
Thrash masters Nail Within have returned to release their second album Sound Of Demise twenty years after their self titled debut album released in 2003. The band had kept in touch during their hiatus working on many other projects between Israel, where the band is from and California where the shared recording of this album took place. With members in their mid twenties during the recording of the debut and now all in their forties Nail Within has created an angry, heavy, dynamic album very relevant of todays metal scene. This is a continuation of their thrashy debut with the addition of a death metal vibe.
Band members, Yishai Sweartz vocals, Alex Shuster guitar, Matan Cohen guitar, “Evil” Haim Binyamini bass and Nir Nakav drums have created a metal work of art that has a seasoned sound of a band that is super tight.
Right out of the gate ‘Bleeding Society’ sets this album on fire. Fast and heavy, this thrash assault features guest vocalist Tom Angelripper from Sodom and his unmistakable snarl adds to the brutality of this track. ‘Eyes of Evile’ continues this aggressive journey with fast guitars and pounding bass and drums. Sweartz’s vocals elevates this song into a head banging euphoria.
Title track ‘Sound Of Demise’ begins with an old school Metallica sound meets Slayer. This is one of my favourite tracks, I like the speed of the guitars and the vocals have a Tom Araya vibe. This song would be great live with massive crowd participation. ‘Regression…And The Price We Pay’ has a wicked vocal attack right from the beginning leading into ‘Duplicate Our Lives’. This track breaks into massive guitar riffs and the drums create this almost tribal sound.
‘Years Of Madness’ is a heavy track that features longtime Testament guitarist Eric Peterson. The guitars on this track are fantastic and sound huge. It is a tribute song to L.G Petrov of Entombed who passed away two years ago encompassing the early death metal scene that was so influential. The solo is a face melter and this is another personal favourite of mine. ‘Everything We Know’ has fast chugging guitars and Sweartz’s vocals follow that traditional old school thrash sound and would be another cool live track. ‘Words As Weapons’ has a heavy drum beat mixed with the fast guitars that is unstoppable. ‘Manipulated And Doomed’ showcases how strong the vocals are on this album with an all out aggressive attack. The song has a Celtic Frost sound set in a Tom G. Warrior vibe.
‘Severe Suffering’ begins with a slower ominous guitar riff producing doomish sound. This has guest vocalist Bobby Ferry singer with the band -(16)- sharing the vocal spotlight and adds an interesting dimension to this track which really fits in with the theme of the album. The spoken word part is cool and is a much darker sounding song.
‘Isolate’ the last track on the album completes this musical journey off in style. The main guitar riff sounds fantastic and is a heavy gut punch of a song to end the album.
This is an exciting time to be a metal fan and this album cements this with a thrash/death metal work of art that is genre defining. Their hiatus between albums has made this release so important and relevant. I recommend this album to all metal fans looking for a brilliant release that is musically and vocally superior. Pick this up and play it at eleven.
Sound of Demise drops on November 17 via Massacre Records.