Havok - V

 So, is it pronounced "V" or "Five"?

(Originally submitted to the Metal Archives on October 22nd 2020) 

3 years after the rather disappointing Conformicide, Havok come back with V, an album that shows us a band trying to regain the position they had as leaders of the retro-thrash movement almost a decade ago, while also trying something new with their sound. Thankfully, those experiments aren’t the only thing on offer, as we do end up hearing quite a bit of the Havok we’ve grown to love over the years.

Opening tracks “Post-Truth Era” and “Fear Campaign” are some of the more straightforward cuts on the album, which should honestly have had their positions switched, as the former isn’t much of an exciting or interesting opener to the album. Barring the “Blackened” styled guitar fade-in (one of a couple easter-eggs to Metallica’s seminal ...And Justice For All), it doesn’t have many riffs to maintain the listener’s attention, though the chorus is solid, as expected of Havok at this point. “Fear Campaign” on the other hand oozes excitement and energy, with its frenetic leads and varied riffing, and the gang shouts on the chorus beg you to start shouting along regardless of where you are.

From that point forward we are being treated to the aforementioned “experiments”, which are essentially Havok trying to write some mid-paced thrash in the vein of – you guessed it - ...And Justice For All, to mostly positive results. We’ve got tracks such as “Betrayed By Technology” and “Ritual of the Mind”, which are honestly pretty good, where the band throws a nice amount of catchy riffs at the listener that despite not blazing at Mach 5 still maintain their bite and energy. “Betrayed By Technology” has a very nice section that builds up to a solo around 2:47, while “Ritual of the Mind” has not only one but two AJFA references (the drum intro is redolent of “Eye of the Beholder”, while the syncopated drumming around the 3:14 mark is extremely similar to the drumming in the final leg of “One”). That being said, that’s not all the track has to offer, since it has a pretty sweet melodic riff that kicks in around the 2:40 mark and builds up to yet another great solo.

Sadly, not all of their mid-paced tracks are hits, as there are a couple of misses, such as “Interface With the Infinite”, and “Panpsychism”, which suffer from similar issues, namely the lack of variety in their sections, which makes the riffing feel much more stale than in the previous two tracks. “Panpsychism” in particular clocks at 6 and a half minutes yet it just slogs on, and while the concept of having just the bass and the drums in the verses and having the rest of the instruments kick in during the chorus is kinda cool, the fact that the song chugs along for most of its duration makes it feel like they were just holding him back and not letting him loose like they did on the other tracks.

Thankfully, there are a handful of faster tracks interspersed between the slower ones, such as “Phantom Force” and “Merchants of Death”, with the former being Havok at their most vicious since Time Is Up, with its lightning-speed riffing and solo making for one of the album’s definite highlights. “Merchants of Death” is the shortest track on the album (discounting the “Dab Tsog” interlude), and despite its length it mixes things up quite nicely in terms of pacing, which is always a pleasant sight to behold.

The final track on this album is “Don’t Do It”, which is the longest song Havok’s written to date, beating out “Circling The Drain” from their last album by almost an entire minute. Here, we see Havok trying to write what seems to be a power ballad, making use of an acoustic guitar during the verses and utilising a chugging riff during the chorus, with all that culminating in the band letting loose around the 5:32 mark and hitting us with a fantastic fast riff and solo, which then give way to another acoustic section that ends the album on a surprisingly poignant note.

In terms of individual performances, we are yet again treated to some tight playing with some technical flourishes from the band, with a notable highlight being newcomer Brandon Bruce on bass. His presence can be felt at all times, and if someone pays attention to him during the songs they can clearly see that he's not just following the guitars but also wandering off on his own and giving more character to the music, proving that he's a worthy replacement to Nick Schendzielos . Reece Scruggs' lead work continues to be exciting to listen to, offering us solos that are memorable despite them having quite a bit of technicality to them. David Sanchez has also shown signs of evolution in his singing, using some cleaner vocals alongside his Paul Baloff-meets-Schmier screaming, which is notable on the closer. Drummer Pete Webber is also keeping busy during almost every song, throwing in tasteful fills whenever necessary, but still maintaining his role as the rhythmic backbone of the band.

The production on this album is top-notch as well, as expected of a band of this stature, with a crystal clear mix that allows everything to be heard clearly at all times. The instruments also sound great, but not to the point of sterility, with the guitars being razor-sharp and having plenty of bite to them, supplemented by the bass, which has quite a nice, rumbling tone to it that pops out quite a bit, and the drums don't sound like they're made out of plastic.

In terms of lyrics, the band has decided to stop watching as much of Alex Jones' show as they used to during the Conformicide sessions, and instead opted to write about how information is being manipulated and distorted in order to further nefarious goals (Post-Truth Era, Fear Campaign, Cosmetic Surgery), mental health (Phantom Force, Don't Do It), and also technology, more specifically, our overreliance on it (Betrayed By Technology, Interface With The Infinite, Panpsychism). They aren't anything mindblowing, and one could argue that they're typical thrash metal fare, but they're competently written and not as silly as "F.P.C." and "Dogmaniacal" from the previous offering.

V is an example of a band not only regaining their footing after a misstep, but also bouncing back from it better than before, releasing what is arguably one of their best albums so far, and what some fans might even perceive as their best. In a year that has seen a handful of quality thrash albums from bands like Warbringer, Surgical Strike and Hazzerd, Havok proves that they still have what it takes to maintain their position as one of the scene's leading acts, while also expanding their musical horizons.

Highlights: Fear Campaign, Ritual of the Mind, Phantom Force, Don't Do It  

Rating: 83%