Heavily Influenced, but Uncompromising British Thrash.
If you're looking for aggressive, uncompromising British metal, you've come to the right place. Aiming to put British trash metal back on the map, Long Time Dead's debut album seems hard for any metal fan to dislike, considering that the influence of such legendary metal acts as Metallica, Megadeth, Machine Head and Pantera manage to seep into nearly every track to create a fusion of good, honest sounding heavy metal.
Long Time Dead begin their relentless attack from the minute the album kicks off with the high-speed, full-volume metal anthem 'Half-Cocked Smile', a track that fuses thunderous hooks with electrifying lead guitar solos and provides the first introduction to Matt Owen's raw vocals, which are undoubtedly indebted to the influence of Metallica's James Hetfield. Although Long Time Dead manage to avoid the theatrical trappings that often make heavy metal bands like Metallica feel over-dramatic, their influence is overwhelmingly apparent, especially in the explosive 'Who Are You', with its up-tempo, distorted heavy-metal guitar and savage vocals that harks back to 'Ride the Lightening' era Metallica.
'Livevil' and 'Right My Wrongs' plunge into much darker depths; the militant, intense sounds of the guitars coupled with Owen's embittered, fiery vocals make the anger and aggression in these songs almost tangible. 'Alone' is another standout song, changing from the white-hot anger of 'Right My Wrongs' to a much more desolate sound. The minimal but emotionally intense lyrics allow the guitar to lead the way, changing smoothly from gritty thrash to more sensitive picking, before building again to a cacophony of pounding drums, heavy rhythms and mind-blowing electric guitar.
'Universal Cry For Help', 'Choke Down' and 'Double-Headed Coin' continue to keep up the standard, combining huge, crunching hooks and double-kick drumming to monstrous effect. While these tracks are nearly always hostile and aggressive, with a raw, spiky sound, Long Time Dead still manage to maintain gigantic melodies to create songs that, despite their harshness, are extremely easy to listen to.
The album, impressively, comes in at just over the hour, with most of the tracks averaging at about the five minute mark, while one or two manage to break the seven minute barrier, in true epic metal style. Whilst the overwhelming influence of so many heavy metal greats might be frustrating or seem unimaginative to some listeners, it doesn't detract from the fact that Long Time Dead have produced a gigantic album, proving that British trash metal is still alive and kicking.