Much has been written about James Malone's problems with an eating disorder which forced the cancellation of many tour dates in support of Arsis' last release We Are the Nightmare, but the guitar player, now minus quite a few pounds and also off alcohol, has reconvened the band and the result is the powerful Starve For the Devil. Kind of an interesting title seeing as what he's struggled with for most of his life, but Malone and the band seem quite focused here, despite the fact that Starve For the Devil being much less of a insane technical death metal tour-de-force than the previous release. This is much more of a 'thrash-n-roll' affair, an in your face metal feast that sees the band lightening up on the tech stuff just a bit for more straightforward metal riffing, but fear not, there's plenty of fretwork pyrotechnics to enjoy throughout.
With more of an emphasis on melody and raging lead guitar work, Arsis seem to be going down a road travelled by Arch Enemy and Children of Bodom here on Starve For the Devil, which you can clearly hear on the opening chugger "Forced to Rock" and the headbanging "Beyond Forlorn". The amount of kick ass thrash is also quite apparent, whether it's on raging pieces like "The Ten of Swords" or the boiling cauldron that is "Closer to Cold", a tune that sees Malone's vocals coming pretty damn close to black metal shrieks. The hilariously titled "Half Past Corpse O'Clock" seems to have it all, blazing thrash, wild guitar solos, and slower, sludge ridden death metal.
Though I'm missing some of the more technical arrangements of We Are the Nightmare, this one is so oddly catchy at times, and there's no shortage of brain melting lead work, so it was hard not to get sucked in by this new direction from Arsis. In the end, it's just a very good extreme metal album that's actually fun to listen to, and that's OK in my book.
Track Listing
01. Forced To Rock
02. A March For The Sick
03. From Soulless To Shattered (Art In Dying)
04. Beyond Forlorn
05. The Ten Of Swords
06. Closer To Cold
07. Sick Perfection
08. Half Past Corpse O'Clock
09. Escape Artist
10. Sable Rising
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