Tenacious and persistent, Won't give in, Can't give up, Never
Facing off to lay claim
Time could soon run out for me
Warring with the demon
Vicious cries, Sinful eyes, Crave what's mine"
One Word Review: Energized
This is one of my all-time favorite Thrash Metal albums. It was the first Forbidden album I heard, and it just blew me away many years ago. Today it is still a great example of technicality, tightness, speed and melody taken to a higher level. The songs are very well composed. Creative riffs, guitar solos, wild breaks and intense vocals all swirl around in a tighly controlled musical mayhem, making for a very compact record with no fluff, only quality music from start to finish.
Gently easing the listener into a state of trance with peaceful acoustic guitars, Parting of the ways also has a slightly foreboding feeling to it and it serves as a nice intro, before Infinite blasts off. Gallopping drums and aggressive guitar riffs play ping pong with your head, and as the soaring vocals of Russ Anderson enter the song, you find yourself on the way to the stratosphere. The guitar solo is a killer. In fact all the guitar solos on this album are very impressive and serve their purpose. They are inventive, melodic and worth listening to.
Russ is able to reach some insanely high notes. He doesn't do this often through the album, but when he does, you will think: Wow!. Besides that, his voice has a real primal feel to it. Probably not everyone's cup of tea, but I think it fits the music extremely well. The rhythm section is as tight as it gets. The two guitarists Craig Locicero and Tim Calvert complement each other perfectly, sharing solos and riffs in a very entertaining way. Paul Bostaph's drum work is fabulous. Seriously, focusing on the drums on this albums is both challenging and rewarding.
Nothing bad can be said about any of the songs on here, but my personal favorite is the title track. It takes its time and builds up a great energy that is let loose when the genius chorus arrives. Again the drum work deserves a mention. R.I.P. is almost 8 minutes and will take much longer to absorb. Opening with an unlikely bass-line, the song soon takes the thrashier route and goes through many interesting passages on its way to... peace?
Other stand-out tracks include fast paced slayers like Step By Step and Out of Body, which will leave you breathless, as well as the slightly less frenetic Tossed away, which has a cool atmosphere and another awesome guitar solo part. One Foot In Hell has a really cool, held back and intense feeling to it, as well as a lengthy shared guitar solo part.
The lyrics are as aggressive as the music and mostly deal with the decline of the human race through subjects such as religion, government control and poverty, often served with a pinch of irony to get the message across.
Overall the album is a total attack on your senses, only slowing down for the brief acoustic interlude a couple of times and returning to the fray soon after. 25 years after its release, it is clear to me that "Twisted Into Form" is a true Thrash classic. If you have missed it, I can only urge you to hunt the album down.
Written By Steen
Online: Thursday, April 9, 2015
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