Who would have thought that Boarders would put out such an amazing album! This Italian thrash metal band started life doing Megadeth covers, before eventually branching out into their own material. They originally released ‘The World Hates Me’ in 2007 and it was re-released by Retroactive Records in 2009. Their new album ‘R-Existence’ (2012) is available as a free download from the band’s website www.boarders.it/.
The band members are Egidio Casati (vocals & rhythm guitars), Luigi “Gigi” Civardi (lead guitar), Oskar Sasso (bass) and Roberto Agnelli (drums). The album title comes from merging Resistance and Existence. The band states “We strongly believe that nothing is more important than to live your only life in perfect freedom of thought. Nowadays, our Existence deserves a firm will of Resistance, in order to be lived at its fullness”. They are influenced by the thrash era and can be compared to Megadeth, Metallica, Testament and Annihilator.
The atmospheric intro leads into the swarthy ‘The Agony Of Dying’ which is dedicated to the memory of Judge Paolo Borsellino and the association called “Il popolo delle agende rosse” (the people of red pocket diaries). He became known for his fight against organised crime and was killed as he was allegedly going to uncover the link between the Italian government and mafia. They spread their net further in ‘Signs Of Resistance’ which is about being victims of a global conspiracy and also throws in some shredding along the way.
‘Vengeance Is Yours’ has staccato riffing as it wrestles with lies and injustice. “They say “An eye is for an eye” / until no one else can see / and we all live as if we’re blind / Deception is all around / The more I hate the more I die / Can’t do anything to stop / my soul from burning me inside / Forgiveness is the only way out”. Then it’s back to thrash metal in ‘4th Reich’ with a guitar solo by Jeff Waters of Annihilator. Rather than being a reference to neo-Nazism, it is about a fear-based system that seeks to bring mistrust and divide people.
There are also ballads in ‘Pure Gold’ and ‘Sixth Out Of Five’ which refers to the five stages of grief, a theory developed by Elisabeth Kubler Ross. These five stages of grief are denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Egidio stated “We added a stage to those five ones, which is “hope”. Strongly believing that our spirit is immortal, and what we do in life echoes in eternity, we’d like to encourage, with this songs, to look in the very eyes of fear, which has been the first enemy we faced, as soon as we got our of the presence of God.”
Refreshingly, Boarders philosophy is that there is no point in trying to get a message across unless your music is up to standard. Considering that this is a free download, they aim high and succeed in hitting the mark.
Rating: 8/10
Reviewed by Peter John Willoughby
Tracks:
01. Prelude
02. The Agony Of Lying
03. Signs Of Resistance
04. Vengeance Is Yours
05. 4th Reich
06. Pure Gold
07. Lightbringer
08. Sixth Out Of Five
09. Cause Of Life
10. Meet My Heart
11. To My Father
Band members:
Egidio Casati (Lead Vocals / Rhythm Guitars)
Luigi Civardi (Lead and Rhythm Guitars)
Oscar Sasso (Bass Guitars)
Roberto Agnelli (Drums)
Jeff Waters of Annihilator (Special Guest on “4th Reich”)
Record label: Self released, 2012
Weblinks: Website / Myspace / Facebook / Reverbnation