Kryzalid

Kryzalid are a young band from Northern France that released with Second Life a respectable debut album, even if the title makes you think that this should be already their album number two. Kryzalid call their music melodic thrash metal, and they are clearly influenced by late-Eighties power stuff like Megadeth and Annihilator, whose Alison Hell they cover to end the album. And that's where their main problem lies: they just don't have the song writing skills yet to make their songs memorable. The raw production, the harsh screamed vocals and the melodic guitar sound make for a nostalgic trip into heavy metal's glorious past, but the longer the album runs, the harder it gets to pay attention to details. Second Life is full of great riffs and sounds very authentic, what's lacking are just the ideas that keep you hooked. With a running time of one hour, you may wonder if this wouldn't have been a better album if it had been more compact? Second Life is by no means a bad album, even above average, it's just a pity that such a talented band doesn't have the routine yet to come over with better songs. If they keep working hard, I bet that there is more than just a small future lying ahead for Kryzalid. Old school thrashers may want to risk an ear.