When ATTACKER (from Weehawken, New Jersey, USA) released their debut album “Battle At Helm’s Deep” in 1985, it had the whole Metal World in its grip. This was something completely new for us Metalheads. Even though the production was mediocre, the sort of US Metal that was evident on the record pulled a lot of weight and put the band on a pedestal. That went down the pan in 1988, when the disappointing sophomore album “The Second Coming” was heard by the Metal community. It even resulted in the band quitting in 1989. Fifteen years later, in 2004, the band started up again, and has been going ever since. The 2004 album “Soul Taker” got momentum, and the US Metal of ATTACKER was embraced once again.

Now, in 2024, we are at album number seven. “The God Particle” is a title that is promising a lot to us as listeners. The question is whether the band is delivering. Let me start by saying that you can’t escape the face that you can easily recognise, which is a point scored for ATTACKER. The other thing I need to mention is that although you can easily recognise it, it doesn’t mean it is top class. It is not bad, but the main issue I have with the way ATTACKER conducts their songs nowadays is that it progressively starts to get on my nerves. I have the feeling that the writers are suffering from ADHD, and have opted to not give you, the listener, a chance to breathe. Well, you can, in the slower songs, but not in the faster ones, as even the breaks go like the clappers.

But what bugs me most is how monotonous I find the voice of Bobby Lucas. He sings/shouts/screams as fits within the ADHD boundaries, but he never is the one to give you a bit of respite either. To me a singer is the person who makes the difference between a song being ordinary/good or even brilliant. If he would vary his tone, intensity and timbre, everything would sound a lot more acceptable. Now his lyrics do little more than pierce your ears with force, making you forget to listen to the lyrics and appreciate them. Unfortunately this is not the case, leaving me no other option than to classify “The God Particle” as a missed chance. Not good nor bad, and certainly not exceptional or even close to be “The God Particle”.