Alliance Of Thieves Meshiaak

• 1 Chronicles Of The Dead 06:06
• 2 It Burns At Both Ends 05:26
• 3 I Am Among You 05:08
• 4 Drowning, Fading, Falling 04:53
• 5 At The Edge Of The World 04:32
• 6 Last Breath Taken 04:10
• 7 Maniacal 05:45
• 8 Alliance Of Thieves 06:16
• 9 Death Of An Anthem 05:38
• Total Runtime 47:54

Info for Alliance Of Thieves

Das Debütalbum der australischen Thrash-Metal Superband Meshiaak! Im australischen Melbourne haben sich einige Meister ihres Faches zusammengetan, um dem Thrash Metal eine gehörige Brise frischen Wind einzuhauchen: Sänger und Gitarrist Danny Tomb kommt von den Thrash- und Groove-Metallern 4ARM, Leadgitarrist Dean Wells war bei der Progmetal-Band Teramaze, und Jon Dette trommelte für Slayer, Terror und Testament. Gemeinsam mit Bassist Nick Walker sind sie Meshiaak.

Das Quartett schließt mit seinem ersten Album „Alliance Of Thieves“ an NWOBHM-, Metalcore- und Thrash-Großtaten wie Metallicas „Ride the Lightning“, Megadeths „Rust in Peace“, Slayers „South of Heaven“ und Machine Heads „Burn My Eyes“ an. Die Gründung der Band, deren Name sich aus dem hebräischen Wort für Messias ableitet, geht auf das Jahr 2014 zurück. Seither kursierten Ankündigungen des ersten Albums und im Internet als vielversprechender Vorgeschmack darauf auch bereits ein Video des Titeltracks „Alliance Of Thieves“. Der Clip brachte Genrefans erwartungsvoll in Wallung und ließ sie darüber spekulieren, ob tatsächlich jemals weiteres Meshiaak-Material das Licht der Welt erblicken würde.

Bis das finale Line-up der Band gefunden und das Debüt im Kasten war, dauerte eine ganze Weile, aber das Warten hat sich gelohnt. Alle neun Tracks auf dem Album überzeugen auf der ganzen Linie – wohl nicht zuletzt deshalb, weil mit dem britschen Produzenten Matt Hyde jemand an Bord kam, der genau weiß, wie man dicke Bretter am besten bohrt. Hyde gilt als absoluter Metal-Experte, er arbeitete unter anderem für Bullet for My Valentine, Machine Head und Trivium, die Produktion des 2008 veröffentlichten Slipknot-Albums „All Hope Is Gone2 trug ihm eine Grammy-Nomierung ein.

Danny Camilleri, Gitarre, Gesang
Dean Well, Lead Gitarre
Nick Walker, Bass
Jon Dette, Schlagzeug

Mixed and mastered by Jacob Hansen (Volbeat, Kamelot, Primal Fear, Evergrey)

Meshiaak
In a thrash world gone metalcore, blackened or conversely, NWOBHM-scrappy, it's hard justice indeed that a band of brothers has come together to champion songwriting, performance, production, arrangement and even sequencing this forthrightly, Meshiaak bestowing on the scene an egregiously confident and 'old soul' record that evokes the magic of Ride the Lightning, Rust in Peace, South of Heaven and Burn My Eyes.

Formed in Melbourne, Australia by 4ARM's Danny Camilleri and Teramaze's Dean Wells, the band is rounded out by bassist Nick Walker and major rhythmic weapon Jon Dette, of Iced Earth, Slayer and Testament fame, not to mention his gig as temporary replacement for an injured Charlie Benante in Anthrax. It is the combination of the embarrassment of riches—and richness of ideas—embedded in the songwriting team of Tombs and Wells, with the band's warm and yet locked-down rhythmic beds that conspire to make tracks like groovy thrasher 'Chronicle of the Dead' and conversely the textured and proggy 'At the Edge of the World' so easy-drinking and yet thought-provoking of detail.

'We went with keeping the sound as band-orientated and organic as possible, but with using a lot of modern technology,' explains Dean. 'It's a blend of old and new because we recorded to two-inch tape for the drums through an old Neve desk, but the rest of the album was produced in my home studio. We also went with a mixer named Jacob Hansen who is known for a lot more progressive music. But I think the combination really gives Meshiaak a new and fresher sound than most traditional thrash albums. And so we've tried to create something fresh amongst the guidelines of traditional metal and thrash with some progressive elements, although at the same time we wanted to make music feel like when we first discovered bands like Megadeth, Metallica, Machine Head etc., even Alice in Chains and Slipknot.'

And throughout the sonic and emotional peaks and valleys of this expertly paced and sequenced record, it becomes obvious that all four of these guys have spent a lifetime soaking in the best of metal music and woodshedding it outward onto tape. The listener comes away with rock-solid confidence in the band as stadium-level songwriters capable and worthy of anchoring... let's call it the 'next next four' somewhere down the line generationally speaking past the original eight to ten thrash bands that wrote and then executed this well.

This album contains no booklet.