Immortal Sÿnn
Force of Habit

A band dreaming of the glorious times in the eighties when pioneers changed the metal concept with stuff like Bay Area thrash, NWOBHM, progressive metal and many other things. These guys seem to be dreaming of the Bay Area for the most part, they are from Denver and their second album Force of Habit certainly looks more in the rear-view mirror than forwards, car drivers that do that might crash if they forget to see where they are going. This band was founded back in 2004 but it too until 2015 before they went to play live, their first EP came in 2015, and the debut album arrived in 2017. As they kicked a few members there are some changed for Force of Habit, the most obvious would be that they have taken in a new singer.

Thrash metal of the Bay Area style is probably the simple description of this album, with additions of the NWOBHM heavy metal and some glam stylings as well. They borrow rather than create, not much if anything on this album feels like something the band has come up with – it feels like we have heard it all before and slightly sterile and unpersonal due to this fact. The singer is slightly more akin to bands like Cinderella or Mötley Crüe than your average thrash metal singer, but not so much that it would make a difference. The progression of songs is more or less what you can expect, more glam metal Satan’s Tavern is a welcome relief.

Mediocre is probably the word that I mostly think of when listening to this, average is another one. I don’t think that it is an album that stands out any which way you want to look at it, the songs are too predictable and none of them can be seen as good enough to propel the band into any level of fame. Sure, songs like Satan’s Tavern and the ending one is good enough to be enjoyable, but only for a while as there is no lasting power when you realise that the tracks fall short compared with the better stuff within the genre. Even the garbage disposal spoken word gag feels like nothing of consequence, the album itself almost feels that way – indifferent.

You will probably not dislike it, if you are a fan of the thrash metal in the eighties Bay Area style as pioneered by the likes of Metallica, Megadeth, Exodus or whatever, it might be worth checking out Force of Habit. But I think I can say with relative certainty that it is much more likely with an indifferent response than an ecstatic one. You can in good consciousness dismiss Force of Habit as there are just so many better choices out there that are less likely to be played once or twice and then forgotten.

HHHHHHH