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4Arm: Submission for liberty
02/03/12 || revenant
I have to admit seeing this release arrive in the GD mailboax came as a bit of a surprise. Let’s face it, I was a complete fucking smartarse when I reviewed their previous release. Are 4Arm suckers 4 more punishment? Maybe, but I was also glad to see it arrive here. For one thing, I have been following a lot of the press around the band in the lead up to this, their third full length album, and my desire to listen to it was high. A lot of positive press plus a new record deal (their previous two albums were self funded releases) can do that. So enough of the intro, let’s get down to the nitty gritty of it.
First up, this is a noticeable change in approach from their previous two albums. With “13 Scars” and “The Empires of Death”, 4Arm pursued a groove metal sound, reminiscent of early Machine Head or classic era Pantera. “Submission for Liberty” sees 4Arm all but abandon that approach for a full on thrash assault. It’s heavier, angrier and a hell of a lot faster than their previous releases, and resultingly a more heart thumping, fist pumping album. There are plenty of fast, chugging riffs and terrific shredding across the whole album. The drummer is…. intense. From what I remember from the time I met Michael Vafiotis he was only a little guy, but man is he a fucking bundle of energy behind the kit. I would swear listening to this that he’s the kind of drummer who doesn’t like to have any of his limbs idle. Not doing anything with that left arm? Smash a fucking symbol already. His energy is amazing throughout. And then there’s the bass… again too low in the mix. Again I can’t hear what’s going on. I know thrash is more guitar focused, but I do like hearing a bass. Let’s hope more thrash bands follow Essence’s example and make the bass hella more audible in the future.
There’s a definite bay area influence to the style of thrash 4Arm play, and it’s clear that early Metallica albums were regular on the 4Arm playlist in the lead up to writing this album. Thankfully, though, this isn’t just another copycat band releasing another copycat album. 4Arm do sound like they are their own band producing their own sound and not another copycat Metallica rip off (looking at you Evile).
Track highlights are many. I could mention any one of tracks 2 to 7 as a highlight, they are all top notch solid tracks. “When I Lay Awake” is a perfect lead in to the album (after the brief piano and spoken word intro), opening with some nice grooves before hitting warpspeed into a thrashing frenzy. The previously mentioned drumming really shining here in what is a fast, epic 7 and a half minutes of thrashing glory. “Raise a Fist” follows and is probably my favourite in the collection of songs here, with easily the catchiest chorus of the group. The next four tracks continue the high standard of the first two, leading up to track 8, the first stumbling block. Not sure what went wrong here, but “My Fathers Eyes” really lacks flow and is not good to listen to as what passed before it. Ninth track “The Warning” is also a bit of a let down, if only in failing to meet the standards set earlier in the record, before things pick up again for album closer “Blood of Martyrs”, a slow tempo crusher that closes the album perfectly.
So when all is said and done, this is a very solid thrash release from 4Arm. Aside from the two weaker tracks mentioned above, this really is a strong release. I’m tempted to drop their score by half a point for those to tracks but, fuck, how hard is it really to press a skip button? Not hard enough to justify ripping a half a point off, especially when there’s still another 40+ minutes of solid thrash with them skipped. Yep, call me impressed, the transition from groove to thrash worked, and 4Arm have produced the first must have for thrash fans in 2012.
- Information
- Released: 2012
- Label: Rising Records
- Website: www.4arm.net
- Band
- Danny Tomb: vocals, guitars
- Johnny Glovasa: guitars
- Andy Hinterreiter: bass
- Michael Vafiotis: drums
- Tracklist
- 01. Sinn Macht Frei
- 02. While I Lay Awake
- 03. Raise a Fist
- 04. Submission for Liberty
- 05. The Oppressed
- 06. I Will Not Bow
- 07. Taken Down
- 08. My Fathers Eyes
- 09. The Warning
- 10. Blood of Martyrs
