New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Tokyo based "Samurais from Hell", SURVIVE released earlier this week,
September 24th, their new album 'Immortal Warriors' worldwide via Sliptrick Records. Furthermore, the band unveils the track-by-track run down.
States the label:
"'Immortal Warriors' fuses new metals and old metal. The violent, fast, delicate melodies have been pushed right to the front creating a tough and sturdy album that is interwoven with melodies that are unique to Japan."
'Immortal Warriors' is SURVIVE's 7th full length studio album, one of their very best and as an added plus contains a bonus track featuring a cover version of the
Metallica classic Master Of Puppets …Survive style! Recorded at
Rebel Sound Lab. Recorded/Mixed by Gaku. Produced by the A-Team (Nemo & Gaku). Mastered by Galaxy Blast Mastering. Artwork by Dedy Badic Art. Art direction & design by Outro. The album artwork was created by Dedy badic art.
"Immortal Warriors" Tracklisting:
1. Degenerate
2. Wrath
3. Immortal Warriors
4.
Tears of the Victims
5. Killing Field
6. Obey Your Own Army Corps
7. rogrammed Slaves
8. Wither My Dying Blood
9. Control The Darkness
10. Blood and Sacrifice
Bonus track
"
Master Of Puppets" (Metallica cover)
Track By Track Run Down
Degenerate
The album opener instantly sets the tone for pretty much the remainder of Survive's latest musical endevour: it's dark as f*ck. Surprisingly, this album sounds as Scandinavian as it gets… Think of bands like Dissection, Bathory or Dark Funeral for instance. If you believe that damnation is upon us, you'd better pick Degenerate as the soundtrack of your choosing.
Wrath
While it certainly delivers what the title anticipates, what stands out the most about "Wrath" has got to be the contrast between the canonical death metal rhythm section as well as the main guitar riff - which is groovalicious, to say the least. You can sure as hell tell that the band leader NEMO has a penchant for Dimebag Darrell's guitar work, with a tasty guitar solo to boot.
Immortal Warriors
It's rather interesting how, despite the overall stylistic coherency Survive are able to maintain throughout the entirety of the record, each track has its own personality. With that being said, Immortal Warriors is likely cut out to be a single, and is the most melodic track thus far. The chorus is surprisingly catchy and "singalongesque" but don't let this deceive you …by the time you reach the mid-section, it's thrash metal galore!
Tears Of The Victims
Having the listener jump on the table and chant the chorus of Immortal Warriors (quite possibly holding one of many pints of his favourite ale in his hand) was fun and all but let's be real, we all knew that wouldn't last long.
Tears Of The Victimsproves that Survive don't mess about and deliver their deadly brew of bone-crushing metal in spades. Not for the faint-hearted.
Killing Field
At this point, judging from the unsettling dissonance of the lead guitar parts coupled with Goro's relentless blast beats, it's safe to say that chaos is securely restored. Killing Field is 3.18 minutes of pure evil. Noteworthy orchestral arrangements, too!
Obey Your Own Army Corps
The chug is strong with this one! The laser-sharp accuracy and tightness of the riffs would make bands like
Testament wan to give the guys in Survive a warm, brotherly hug. The twin-lead harmony guitar melodies of the chorus sit really nicely on top of GORO's devastating layer of double-bass drum mayhem.
Programmed Slaves
Programmed Slaves is one of those songs that gets straight to the point without beating much about the bush. It's almost as if the listener were instantly sucked into a black hole of destruction. A track reminiscent of At The Gates's finest work.
Wither My Dying Blood
Once again, GORO's drum work is straight up impressive here. I wouldn't be surprised if they named the four-armed Mortal Kombat monster after him. The song outro is also a highlight, with its dramatic, soul-hibernating string chords.
Control The Darkness
One of the album's heaviest tracks. The crystal-clear production definitely allows NEMO and GAKU's rhythm guitars to shine through, while SINIJILOW happily pounds away with his chubby bass lines. The menacing choirs allow for further drama to ensue, adding a nice atmospheric dimension to the track.
Blood And Sacrifice
Blood And Sacrifice is a real stand out and masterfully mixes metal with symphonic music, encapsulating that sort of sound only bands like Dimmu Borgir or Behemoth are capable of. Arrangements, musicianship and creativity all wonderfully entwine, making the song a rightful closing number, as well as the album's piece de resistance.
Master of Puppets
There's not much to be said about this track, as it's a pretty flawless and faithful rendition of the original. In fact, I could barely tell the difference! Other than the fact that the production is of course 33 years younger. Nonetheless, always a pleasure to listen to!
Watch
'Degenerate' official video: https://youtu.be/59jfifiBZCY
'Immortal Warriors' video: https://youtu.be/DzwXNSE_-ck
Tokyo's Thrash Heroes SURVIVE began life over 20 years ago and have forged their own indelible path within the jmetal scene. It was back in 1998, when former Death File guitarist and mastermind Nemo decided to form a thrash metal band of his own which soon became the juggernaut known as SURVIVE. Over the next two decades the band have played many big festivals (Loud Park, Beast Fest, Multiplex-motorbike event, Korean Live Rock, Formoz Festival, Asia Metal Festival, Dongducheon Rock Festival, Trendkill Extreme Feast, etc) and toured all over the world with acts such as Behemoth, United, Killswitch Engage, Dope, Pulling Teeth, Testament, Outrage, Anthrax, Hatebleed, Napalm Death, Amon Amarth, Venom Inc, At The Gates, to name just a few, cementing their place in Japanese metal history. Still going strong, SURVIVE's latest album "Immortal Warriors" was released to the Japanese market on
September 12th, 2018 and a year later, on
September 24th 2019, the album is out worldwide via Sliptrick Records. SURVIVE have lost none of their verve and "Immortal Warriors" is an absolute must for fans of this fantastic, often overlooked band.
[Band photo by Ko-ichi Mukoyama]
More information at:
BAND: https://www.rebel-survive.com | https://www.facebook.com/survive333
MANAGEMENT: https://www.facebook.com/OfficialAlphaOmegaManagement | https://alphaomega-management.com
LABEL: https://sliptrickrecords.com/survive/
