We open up with “Die By The Sword” it’s got a very traditional, dramatic slow-build intro…the duel attack of founding members Wolf Hoffman and Peter Baltes on guitar and bass respectively gives this a primarily classical vibe with their chugging riff approach…the chorus has almost choir-esque chanting and gang vocals accompanying Tornillo (who has a decent range it must be said) and it’s effective in its simplicity, its catchy enough and lifts the track a little…further highlights include “Koolaid” which on surface value may appear to be an incredibly random attempt at sponsorship, but in actuality Hoffman will tell you it’s derived from a mass suicide in Guyana back in 1978, where over nine hundred people drank flavoured Cyanide and took their own lives in what was dubbed a “revolutionary suicide” by the hands of settlement leader Jim Jones…a really interesting listen, while “Worlds Colliding”, while utilising some solid hard rock, combined with slick, catchy hooks perfectly captures the feel of the song’s message…it’s very spiritual and steeped in self-discovery, the ying and yang of your inner self, the good and the bad, finding where the two meet and making that separation (if you can)…and that solo too…this is very enjoyable.
Elsewhere tracks such as the album’s title track and “Analog Man” carry messages themselves, the former highlighting the issues we face worldwide in present time, the chaos we have ourselves created and the mess we’ve gotten ourselves into…the world is a dangerous place and we’re not helping matters at all, while the latter focuses on the advances in technology and in a tongue-in-cheek look at themselves as older veterans of metal, they poke fun at themselves for being old-school, preferring simpler times, mentioning 8-Tracks and iClouds…it’s quirky and proves an entertaining listen…closing track “Race To Extinction” adds to this with a sense of, having a lack of faith in humanity…we’re tripping over ourselves with advancements and progress but we’re killing the planet, it’s really quite deep and poignant…musically, the majority of the album plods along with a traditional metal feel, looped riffs, the odd solo thrown in for good measure but other than that, there are moments here where it can feel stagnant. While the metal itself may be good, it’s pigeonholed within an era to some degree and again, targets a certain demographic of listener…it’s not to say it’s a bad album by any means, they’ve covered some strong and relevant topics here and it’s been produced well but, for the most part it goes through the metal motions. Less chaos more, rinse repeat…[7]