Sky Must Burn
Metrakillator
•
January 31, 2015

It gives me great pleasure when the quality of the music reciprocates to the expectations that are created in my mind after the initial impressions made by the album cover art. Spanish Thrashers METRAKILLATOR released their debut album, "Sky Must Burn", in 2014, and boy this is something!
Unlike most recent albums, "Sky Must Burn" starts off with a 2 min instrumental which actually was rather boring. I just think bands should get away with these half-baked intros, which more often than not, don't serve the purpose they were intended in the first. Off! That was a long rant to start off with, but actually the last one, because quite frankly there is little to complain with the rest of the album, as the band belts out anthem after anthem with JUDAS PRIEST influence written all over them. Well not just PRIEST, but "Into the Darkness" oozes influence of many other Traditional Heavy Metal and Thrash Metal bands like SAXON and many other old school bands. Throughout the album, the screaming vocals of Angel Falip reminds me of vocals on "By Inheritance" album by ARTILLERY, piercing through the ears like an arrow, sometimes sharper than the lightning riffs by the talented Ismael Conejero.
The riffs are rhythmic, and one can't help but just headbang to them and drool over their beauty. The solos are judiciously used and again, Conejero hits the bull's eye. The bass and the drums mostly play the supporting role in the album and work just fine considering the bigger picture. The JUDAS PRIEST ness (if I may say) in them oozes out in "Chainsaw Collision", with the bike intro and some excellent synthetic guitar riffs to back the rest of the song. The band tries really hard with each song to bring out ground breaking innovative riffs, but sadly they are just fall short due to lack of direction in the latter half of the album. Don't get me wrong, they aren't bad, but just not stand out material. With great production and great musicianship, the band has put right step the first time, but seems not enough to stand out among the ocean of albums being released in this day and age.
Well, to put in simple words, what do you expect from this album when you just look at the album art? Plethora of fast paced riffs thrown at bullet speed into your ear drums? That's exactly what you get, with polished production and clean sound, with some added additives to make it strong. Pick "Sky Must Burn" if you are a fan of Traditional Heavy Metal or Thrash Metal, it's worth your time, but don't expect it to be a standout.<
7 / 10
Good

"Sky Must Burn" Track-listing:
1. Incoming Madness
2. Into the Darkness
3. Sky must Burn
4. Chainsaw Collision
5. Gears of the Hate Machine
6. Necronomicon
7. Knightmare
8. Awakening Vengeance
9. Mastermind of Babylon
Metrakillator Lineup:
Joaquim Pueyo - Drums
Ismael Conejero - Guitars
Angel Falip - Vocals
Robert Teixido - Bass
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