FUELED BY FIRE – Plunging Into Darkness
- Posted on 10-04-2012
This sophomore outing for thrashers Fueled By Fire brings an arguably more focussed package than 2007’s ‘Spread the Fire’. As retro-oriented thrash albums go, this is a pretty authentic offering. The chops and beats bring that classic Bay Area sound to mind and there are almost no modern references to break the spell.
In terms of quality they guys know their way around their instruments and the production is crystal clear. Unfortunately, the best I can say about the song writing is that it is ‘workmanlike’. There was none of the shock and awe that I’d look for on this type of record and very little to make this an album that I’d return to. Simplest to say: Fueled By Fire do the job, but don’t go beyond that into creating something that will really endure in the thrash pantheon.
Recently, modern thrashers like Vektor and Havok have really started to push the envelope in terms of top-notch thrash and Fueled just aren’t up there with the big boys. Plus, there are so many thrash bands from back in the heyday of the genre that people missed out on… personally Vendetta, Whiplash, Hallow’s Eve and Watchower spring to mind. It is a vein that still yields excellent rewards for those willing to search and in that context, I’m sorry to say that while good, Fueled By Fire have little to offer.