Befriende tomme kalorier
Nogle gange har man ikke brug for at blive udfordret eller at skulle tage stilling til de store spørgsmål i livet. Nogle gange er det nok bare at sidde og dele en kasse Ceres Top med en god kammerat og snakke om ingenting. Det kan faktisk være helt befriende. Lidt den oplevelse er det at lytte til nyeste udspil fra thrash-veteranerne i Artillery.
Intet nyt i højttaleren
Det er vist ikke for meget sagt, at Artillery ikke forsøger at opfinde den dybe metaltallerken på X. Riffene er, som vor mor lavede dem, vokalen er lige så høj, som den skulle være i 80’erne, og teksterne handler om de gode gamle klassikere. “In Thrash We Trust” handler for eksempel om, hvor fedt metal er, mens førstesinglen “Turn Up The Rage” handler om, at man godt kan blive rigtig vred, men at det skal man have lov til. Og så er der selvfølgelig et enkelt nummer om, at man også godt kan være lidt trist. Det hedder “The Ghost of Me”. Der er for så vidt ikke noget galt med X, det er bare ikke videre originalt, og det føles lidt for ofte, som om at Artillery tager den på rutinen. Tag førstesinglen “Turn Up The Rage” som eksempel. For så vidt et udmærket nummer med masser af energi i både de højtråbende guitarer og ditto forsanger. Det hele er også meget velspillet, godt produceret og i virkeligheden et fint bud på en slags melodisk thrash anno 2021. Det er bare også hørt cirka en million gange før, for eksempel i omkvædet, hvor forsanger Michael Bastholm synger:
“Turn, turn up the rage – build up the bars
You’ll never imprison my soul
I have an angel – one you can’t see
Who’s making me whole”.
Det er både set bedre og dårligere mange andre steder, og havde det været på en debutplade, så havde jeg måske set igennem fingre med det. Men her har vi altså at gøre med et af dansk metals helt store navne, og dem kan man altså godt forvente sig et lidt højere niveau af. Det hele føles lidt for meget som endnu en dag på kontoret, og det gør også, at X ikke helt kryber ind under huden – faktisk er store dele af den meget nemme at glemme igen.
Men det hele skal ikke være lutter brok, for X er ikke en dårlig plade. Jeg spillede X for en af mine venner for nylig, og hans umiddelbare reaktion var: “Forestil dig, at du og jeg sad en aften og drak en hel masse øl. Så kunne den her sagtens køre i baggrunden og give god stemning.” Og det har han ret i. Til festen med dine metalvenner, hvor I ikke behøver at sidde og analysere tekster og nærlytte riffs, så er X et oplagt bud, og pladen skal også nok falde i god jord hos mange af Artillerys fans. Jeg tog da også mig selv i flere gange at spille luftguitar, mens jeg gik rundt og lyttede til den, og samtidig har jeg haft “Turn Up The Rage” på hjernen i tre-fire dage, så noget kan den jo. Og måske har vi – både som anmeldere og som fans – godt af ikke at tage alting så seriøst hele tiden? Nogle gange skal ting måske ikke være nyskabende og genopfinde sig selv. Nogle gange skal det også bare være det, vi kender. Og lige netop den slags plade er X. Bliver den kåret som årets plade? Nok ikke. Kommer den til at skaffe Artillery horder af nye fans? Nok heller ikke. Men jeg ville heller ikke flå den af anlægget, hvis den blev sat på.
Thrash, du kan stole på
“In Thrash We Trust” hedder en af sangene på X. Og det gør Artillery. De spiller fint og efter en velkendt opskrift på en gang god, gammeldaws heavy, som ikke bryder ny grund for hverken bandet eller genren. Men pladen skal nok tilfredsstille fans af begge dele, og heldigvis er Artillerys bundniveau så tilpas højt, at de selv på en halvsløj dag stadig kan spille mange andre bands af banen. Er du til thrash i den melodiske ende eller fan af Artillery, så kan du med sindsro sætte X på. Du skal bare ikke forvente at blive overrasket.
Liberatingly empty calories
Sometimes you do not need to be challenged or have to think about the big questions in life. Sometimes its enough to just sit and share a case of Ceres Top with a good friend and talk about nothing. It might actually just be liberating. This is kind of the experience that listening to the newest music from the thrash-veterans Artillery gives you.
Nothing new from the speaker
There is not much in the ways of reinventing the metal-wheel in their new album X. The riffs are as our mother used to make them, the vocal is as high as it had to be in the 80s, and the lyrics are about the good old classic subjects. The song “In Thrash We Trust” for example is about how awesome metal is, while the first single “Turn Up The Rage” is about how sometimes you can get really angry, but that that’s okay too. And of course, there is a single number about how sometimes you can also get a little sad. That song is called “The Ghost of Me.” There really isn’t anything wrong with X, it’s just not very original, and it often just does feel like Artillery isn’t trying to reinvent the wheel. Let’s look at the first single “Turn Up The Rage” as an example. It’s a decent enough song with lots of energy in both the loud guitars and the lead singer. The song is also really well played, well produced and actually a fine example on a type of melodic thrash anno 2021. It has just also been heard about a million times before. Like in the chorus, where lead singer Michael Bastholm sings.
“Turn, turn up the rage – build up the bars
You’ll never imprison my soul
I have an angel – one you can’t see
Who’s making me whole”.
It has both been seen better and worse many times before, and had it been on a debut album, it might have been overlooked. But this is one of Danish metals grand bands, and there should be a higher level of music here. It all just feels a little like its just another day at the office for them. This means that X just doesn’t get under your skin, and large parts of the album is forgettable.
But let’s not spend the entire article complaining, because X is not bad. I had one of my friends listen to X recently and his immediate reaction was, “Imagine, you and me sitting one evening and just having a bunch of beers. This album could easily just run in the background and set a good mood.” And he is totally right. For the party with your metalhead friends, where you don’t need to sit around analyzing lyrics and study the riffs, then X is an obvious choice, and X is sure to land in the good graces of many Artillery fans. Even I caught myself in playing the air guitar, while I was walking around listening to it. I have also had “Turn Up The Rage” playing in the back of my mind for the last three, maybe four days, so there is some power to it. And maybe, both us fans and critics, we need to not be as serious all the time? Sometimes things might not need to be new and reinvent themselves. Sometimes we also need the familiar. And that is the type of album that X is. Is it going to be the best album of the year? Probably not. Is it going to introduce hordes of new fans to Artillery? Also, probably not. But I also wouldn’t immediately turn it off if someone put it on.
Thrash you can trust
“In Thrash We Trust” is the name of one of the songs on X. And Artillery does just that. Their music is good, and follows a good, old fashioned recipe for heavy, that doesn’t break any new ground, neither for the band or the genre. But the record is going satisfy fans of both, and luckily Artillery is just such a good band, that even on a bad day, they are still leagues away from many other bands. Do you like the melodic type of thrash or do you like Artillery? Then put on X with a peace of mind. Just don’t expect to be surprised.
