Struck A Nerve is about to release its first album.
Simply titled Struck A Nerve, it immediately caught the attention of Listenable Records, with whom Aarran Tucker (bass/vocals, ex-Shrapnel), Chris Williams (drums, Gama Bomb, ex-Shrapnel), Nathan Sadd (guitar, Shrapnel), and Lexell Altaïr (guitar) signed for its release.
Noctural Terror attacks at full speed with sharp thrash roots and an obvious vengeance that allows the vocalist to quickly join in and significantly reinforce the assault, adding extra fire or marking certain passages such as the break. There’s no doubt that the mosh part will be incredibly effective live, as will the eponymous track Struck A Nerve, which was written to get the crowd going wild, following the vocalist’s assaults on a jerky but extremely solid rhythm. The solo will also wreak havoc, as will the moment when the tempo slows down, encouraging headbanging, then Parade of Violence takes over and offers us another fix of pure violence to keep us banging our heads like savages without giving us time to think. We have exactly nine seconds before Inside the Torture Fortress strikes in turn, offering a simple but catchy groove with controlled accelerations and giving us some rather dark and disturbing Old School touches, unlike Raining Death, which are sure to make the atmosphere even more electric. The vocals become even more imposing in the final moments of the song, then Moon Sniper picks up the pace again to give his riffs all the power they need during the jerky passages, but also furious harmonics to create what seems to be a truly unstoppable track. Hostilities resume in a more moderate fashion with the catchy Last Eyes See All, infused with heavy influences but asserting its aggression through screams and a martial mosh part, then The Knife Scrapes the Bone regains its liveliness and syncopated patterns to continue. The track is fairly short but allows itself a slight pause before rushing into Leviathan Wings, which is by far the longest track and reveals an almost soothing melody before showing its firepower, while allowing tranquility to invade it from time to time and mixing its influences to make it a real pleasant surprise to listen to.
It’s fast and incisive, but Struck A Nerve knows how to win us over! If you like vindictive Thrash, ballsy Heavy Metal, and unifying mosh parts, you’ll undoubtedly finish the year with Struck A Nerve!
80/100
