I have said many times before that the Scandinavian countries are the cream of the crop of the Metal scene. Almost all the bands from these -most of the time- frozen countries have something new to produce that is -also most of the time- very good. In this multi-mentioned phenomenon belongs the Norse band called SUSPERIA. This band has been around for quite a while and Attitude is their latest discographic attempt and the successor of Cut From Stone.
I have to admit that I was not into their music since I don't like when bands start belonging to a certain music genre and then quickly change/evolve to something more straightforward and usually catchy. This is what I had in mind when the promo CD of Attitude reached me, asking for a fair review. So, with many doubts in my mind I hit the 'play' button and then...
...The Urge literally kicked in with a massive sound and ton heavy riffs. The harsh vocals have the TESTAMENT dynamics with underlying Taneli Jarva (ex-SENTENCED) influences. The excellent sound gains even more power when the double drum pedaling and the tendon-destroying blast beats enter! The track is almost connected to solid-as-hell Live My Dream where Chuck Billy makes an impressive guest appearance. Here the impressive sound blows everything up while Chuck proves why he is considered as one of the best voices in the Thrash Metal scene. In fact the twin guitar riffs and bone crushing rhythm section and neck-snapping breaks follows TESTAMENT sound from their latest album.
Ok, Athera (who is currently recovering for an open heart surgery) has changed his vocals taking a cleaner path with less growls but judging by the result he did well. In Sick Bastard there is another guest appearance that strongly affects the song's character. DIMMU BORGIR's Shagrath opens this track with his trademark scream bringing to light SUSPERIA's Black Metal roots. The SLAYER-esque high pitched guitar solos are the icing on the cake pushing hard the Thrash Metal gas pedal.
As said in the intro, SUSPERIA have changed their sound towards a more mainstream path producing catchy melodies that set anchor in your mind from the very first CD spin. For this they have introduced some early BLACK LEAGUE and later SENTENCED finishing touches that were flawlessly mixed by Fredrik Nordstrom in his famous studio in Sweden.  But my initial doubts were cleared away by the super tight songs found in Attitude. The band seems to have found the sound that they feel comfortable playing giving to birth to an album that -I bet- will enter in most of the Metal charts all around the world. So, if you are into the modern Thrash scene with some Melodic Death Metal additions then this is a 'must buy' album. I cannot help but mention my personal highlight of the album that is Character Flaw; I dare you not to hit the replay button many times and not to -at least- hum the main melody!!!! ...tonight you must stand alone...