In For The Kill
At the core of Savage Messiah is Dave Silver. A driven individual who I first witnessed as singer/guitarist for Headless Cross at Bloodstock Open Air 2006. I was impressed, not only with the band as a whole, but also the thrash influenced music that had your foot tapping with eerie regularity. I have to admit that I was somewhat disappointed when I heard that Headless Cross had been dissolved. However, the drive of such a metal devotee was greater than the said band and Dave promptly upped his own game by gathering a more committed and talented group of musicians. His new venture is Savage Messiah and although starting afresh is a risky move, it’s one that has paid off and then some.
As soon as I heard Spitting Venom on their Myspace site it was obvious why Silver opted to start again. The new material was on a completely different level. It was nastier, heavier, faster and more accomplished. I was hooked from the start and now, not so far down the line, the band has self-released the ‘Spitting Venom’ E.P with seven tracks plus a bonus tune. It’s no more an E.P than a mini album and even after several listens I was gutted that it was only an E.P. I was, and still am, itching for more from Silver and the gang because ‘Spitting Venom’ is simply brilliant.
Let’s not forget that this release is self financed, and lacks the spit and polish of a professional release. But if truth be told you can hardly tell because the production job has been nailed from the crunching guitars to the crisp drums. The title track comes at you like a speeding train, pulverising your senses, yet at the same time caressing them with flashes of melody courtesy of the twin harmony attack and Silver’s vocals. Silver has that Dave Mustaine technique about his voice where the words are more snarled more than sung, yet he can carry a subtle melody off with ease (Conspiracy In Silence) as well as scream when needs be. His voice is quite versatile and one of the appealing aspects of this E.P. Whereas many modern bands choose to have monotone screaming/growling or adopt the shout/clean technique, Silver carries them all off in a way the classic thrash vocalists used to.
Savage Messiah tread that fine line between heavy metal and thrash, perhaps crossing over to the latter more often. One could argue that they sound like the classic thrash bands of the late 80’s such as Sabbat, Testament, Exodus and Xentrix, and that would be a fair assumption. But whereas bands such as Evile sound completely retro, Savage Messiah has one great big boot in the late 80’s and another in contemporary thrash. It’s difficult to pick out stand out tracks but the title song is something special as is ‘Frontline’. However, I thought the E.P had spent its wad after the thrash style ballad ‘Conspiracy In Silence,’ but ‘In For The Kill’ just blew me away. If this is an indication of what’s to come then I’m positively giddy in anticipation. If you work for Earache, Candlelight or even Century Media Records then you may just find a gem in this band. I’m sure if this was twenty years ago they’d be signed and touring with the ‘Big Four’. In this day and age they need all the support they can get, so what are you waiting for? If you love thrash then get this. Great stuff.
Check them out at www.myspace.com/savagemessiahmetal