BLACK ASYLUM: Anthem of Order

Produced by Darren Jenkins and Black Asylum

Released: 2009

Wyong lads Black Asylum have been moving pretty quickly to the fore of the scene in their local area since they kicked off about four years ago. Last weekend they warmed up the crowd for Cannibal Corpse and apparently did a sterling job and in the past they've opened for everyone from Alchemist and Psycroptic to Parkway Drive. 2008's full length Truths of the Blood suffered from a lack of direction and some songwriting lapses, but it was obvious there was a really good band hiding away in there.

So it is then that "Anthem of Order" shits on it royally. As decent as Truths was in spite of its inherent weaknesses, this EP almost sounds like it was made by a totally different band. Black Asylum has done everything right here. Instead of a full length that tries to be everything to everyone, this time they've picked a handful of tracks that show what they do best. And with production duties handled by the guy who was once the drummer for Australia's answer to Pantera, Black Asylum had a veritable expert around to help them crystallise their vision. That vision: modern groove-laden thrash.

"Smoke and Mirrors" gets things underway in precisely the right direction and things only continue to get better from there. "25 to Life" and "Face the Silence" take the opportunity to step up into near-death metal territory and "The Last Day" has an enormous bouncing groove that refuses to be pacified. Occasionally a glimmer of their influences shows through -- a riff here, a melody line there -- but it's never for long enough for Black Asylum to sound like anyone in particular. Thick, catchy riffs and grooves, a stomping rhythm section, sharp soloing and raspy vocals that can also effect a nice croon, "Anthem of Order" is a fine example of Aussie metal done right.

1. Smoke and Mirrors
2. 25 to Life
3. Face the Silence
4. The Last Day
5. Subtlety
6. Black as the Crow

Rating: 82%

BLACK ASYLUM: Truths of the Blood

Produced by Simon Bailey and Daniel Ford
Released: 2008

Black Asylum has been one of the busiest metal bands on the Sydney scene for a few years now, carving out a name for themselves as a reliable support band for almost any heavy act that hits town. The band's two previous demos highlighted the thrash aspect of their sound, but their debut album release paints them as considerably more diverse. Diversity can have its downside of course, and in Black Asylum's case it's that they seem to try to cover too much and not really establish themselves in any one particular style.

"Beg for Mercy" opens proceedings pretty well with a nice combination of classic thrash and classic metal with "This Time We Rise" continuing in the thrash vein. After this the band begins a somewhat wayward excursion through various guises that often works but sometimes doesn't. On "Victims of the Fall" they sound rather like Daysend, which would be fine if Daysend didn't already sound like that and "Bleeding Away" is like a leftover from The Haunted's The Dead Eye. The lead guitars tear through "My War" and "Black Insanity" features a nice fusion of melodic thrash and groove, which I must say this band does very well. Other songs exhibit influences from metalcore and still others display some melodic death metal tendencies. All is good, but Black Asylum needs to decide what sort of metal band they want to be, and stick to it. There's nothing wrong with throwing in a few outside elements here and there, but have too many and you leave yourself at risk of trying to be everything to everyone.

Truths of the Blood isn't a bad album, but it doesn't come off as particularly cohesive. It's as if the band threw on every decent song they've ever written instead of choosing eight or so that best illustrate their main style. That said, there's far worse you could do than check these guys out, especially if they're playing somewhere near you.

1. Beg for Mercy
2. This Time We Rise
3. Victims of the Fall
4. Bleeding Away
5. 12 Gauge Judas
6. My War
7. Dawn of No Difference
8. The Shallow Eye
9. ...Unspoken
10. Black Insanity
11. Dead to the World

Rating: 68%