Taipei Metal

Review: Horsemen - Kill You One More Time EP

If you can’t tell what Horseman are all about after the first few seconds of their debut E.P. Kill You One More Time let me spell it out for you. Straight-ahead old-school thrash. The kind that makes you want to dust off the old high tops, squeeze into those ancient cut-offs, sew the patches back on your denim jacket, grab a six pack, and give the neighbors a full-metal ear injection. There’s no obtuse technicality or self-aggrandizing showmanship to be found here. They are a throwback to a time when a band’s worthiness was gauged not by how many beats per minute they could cram into a song, but by something that has enjoyed a comeback with the recent thrash resurgence, something that was, for a time, lost in a sea of endless blast beats and “look what I can do” technicality: catchiness. Do you remember that? When you could actually hum a riff back after hearing it on a CD? If not, Kill You One More Time will serve as a welcome refresher course.

One thing that is particularly refreshing is that the band makes no attempt to veil its influences. Instead, they celebrate and pay homage to them with unabashed enthusiasm, and calls of “rip-off” be damned. Keep your ears open for the Metallica tribute during the title track when vocalist and rhythm guitarist Joey shouts “Gripping your pillow tight!” The solos from lead guitarist Kaoru also seem to reek of pure Hammett circa the vintage Metallica era, or in other words anything before the Black Album. The lyrics are simply shouted out, similar to the bark of Max Cavalera in the early days of Sepultura, with a little less of the big dog’s bite. Overall, the songs have more of that mid-tempo groove, as the band proves that they don’t have to be fast to be heavy. Here’s hoping for a post-military service comeback from the young Taipei thrashers.

For fans of: Old-School Thrash

Links: http://www.myspace.com/horsemenband

by Joe Henley