Every once in a while you get an album that when you hear the first chord punch your stereo in the face, you know its going to be a great album. Grave Forsaken’s – “The Fight Goes On” is just that for me, a 100% get up and punch you in the face album that drives relentlessly from beginning to end like their ain’t no tomorrow.
Maybe its just nostalgia, but I am a devout old school thrash and crossover fan, and there is a lot of it going on in the album.
Immediately I am transported back to the 80‘s thrash scene where some of most of the iconic thrash and crossover bands were born. A time where headbanging and moshing was the norm, and not some paralytic chicken dance that a lot of hardcore kids of today do.
A lot of thrash bands today are merely echoes or shadows of those days that bare slight similarities of an era that cemented some of the greatest thrash bands ever. I don’t think that era of thrash would ever be equalled today, but there are some bands that though embody elements of that era are able to forge a stand alone authority, and nod. Grave Forsaken is one of those bands. Though for any true thrasher your mind would wander to the 80‘s when listening to the album, it has that modern touch that keeps it both authentic and in the times of todays musical atmosphere. In other words it won’t alienate the kid who likes to do the paralytic chicken dance.
This is a band, and more particularly the album that can stand strong next to your collection of great thrash bands like, Anthrax, Voivoid, Slayer, Suicidal Tendencies, M.O.D. and many others. The vocals are familiar, but distinctive, and like wise the music. This album is no award winning album, but it brings home the fact that their are bands out there still that can actually put intelligent material out.
“The Fight Goes On” starts really strong with balls to the wall thrashers like the title track”The fight goes on” and “There is no peace”, but it hits a little bit of a lull in the middle with some standard thrash dynamics, and does the album little credit for the quality it actually is.
Its an album filled primarily with moments of thrash glory despite the odd bump in the road.
What makes this a great album is the relentless energy that pours out from start to end. Very seldom do you find albums that can keep the momentum going right throughout, and I think here they succeed nicely in the unfolding of the album. They finish off the album strongly with “Glimpse Of Armageddon”, which fortifies the thrash momentum with authority and exclamation.
Overall “The Fight Goes On” is a guitar shredding fan experience capsuled with energy and thrashing power great for the traditional metal fan, and even a new fan just introduced to their sound. The rip roaring thrashing is embraced with powerful gang vocals, and great solo’s that is hallmark characteristics of the Grave Forsaken trademark sound. This is a great release from a band that keeps on thrashing time and time again with a consistent momentum and strength that makes them stand out in the crowd.
Rating: 7.5/10
Written by Donovan de Necker
Track list:
1. The Fight Goes On
2. There Is No Peace
3. Politics of Popularity
4. Four Creatures
5. Duluth Airbase Intruder
6. Strike the Oppressor
7. God Is with Us
8. Glimpse of Armageddon
Band Members:
Current members
Vaughn Gregory – vocals, guitar
Elias Salmela – guitar
Matt Skipworth – bass
Luke Gallaher – drums
Discography
“Grave Forsaken” EP (2005)
“Beside the River of Blood” (2006)
“Horror and Sadness” EP (2007)
“Destined for Ascension” (2008)
“This Day Forth” (2009)
“Fight to the Death” (2010)
“Reap What You Sow” (2012)
“The Fight Goes On” (2015)
Record Label: Soundmass, Dec. 2015
Buy the album here:
Holland: First Paradox
Norway: Nordic Mission
Video below: ‘There Is No Peace’