Blood Feast - Future State of Wicked - Album Review

The cycle of releasing an album, touring to support the album, writing and recording the next album two years later, then touring to support that album, is not an easy tradition to maintain in this day and age. It is now more common for a band to release an album three or four years after its predecessor. As with any sort of ambition, life can get in the way. Work, family, health, and various other issues or commitments can interfere and delay a project’s completion. Take Bayonne, New Jersey’s Blood Feast, for example. This quintet reunited in 2007, and have been working on their comeback album since 2014. The album, The Future State of Wicked, was finally delivered to the underground on March 31st.

With guitarist Adam Tranquilli being the only original member left in the band now, there is bound to be some dubiousness about the new line-up. First of all, vocals have never been Blood Feast’s strongest asset. Original vocalist Gary Markovitch sounded like a cross between Exodus vocalists Paul Baloff and Steve Souza, but it worked for thrash metal. Chris Natalini’s dry screaming sounds like Sam Kinison trying to do black metal, despite his history with East Coast death and thrash metal. As with the debut album, the guitarists serve up an extensive collection of riffs, but the solos are the real highlight. The lead work definitely recalls early Blood Feast, but demonstrates enriched skill and even some more melody. Look no further than “Last Rites” and “Brethren” for good examples. There is never a dull moment on the drums. It is surprising and pleasing to hear that Joe Moore has a style and drum sound that is strikingly similar to Kevin Kuzma’s, who was always regarded as an overlooked drummer and valuable aspect of the band’s music. Moore always comes up with intriguing drum fills, and if I didn’t know better, I would have thought that it was still Kuzma behind the kit. Bassist Tom Lorenzo is unfortunately inaudible throughout much of the album, but shining bass moments can certainly be found on “Off With Their Heads”.

The aggression kicks off instantly in the openings of the album’s first two songs, “I.N.R.I.” and “Off With Their Heads”. If it’s already taken this long to finish the album and release it, why spend another sixty seconds on some pointless intro track? “I.N.R.I.” has already been in their set for several songs, so those who have already enjoyed that song at a Blood Feast gig, will be happy with the aggression and sea of riffs that continues throughout the album’s 43 minutes. “Who Prays For the Devil” and “The Burn” are a couple of standout tracks because of their memorability and heavy riffs. “The Underling” has an excellent intro riff, but its slower bridge is one of the album’s only boring moments. Thankfully, the speed and excitement start back up quickly. Overall, The Future State of Wicked is a good thrash album that could have been improved with better vocals. Nevertheless, the aforementioned lead work and drumming are the strongest qualities that keep it interesting. If this is what the future state of wicked sounds like, then metal is going to have a bright future. 8 out of 10



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Tags:  Blood Feast, Future State of Wicked, Bayonne, NJ  

Nick Statudo    April 26, 2017