Review by JD on August 7, 2012.

There are times when I dread hearing some lone person or duo that has ‘recorded’ in their basement or front rooms. Don’t get me wrong, some are good, but there are those pretty bad, hideous bands out there that make crappy metal that should have never seen the light of day in the first place. Floridian Death Metal duo Never To Arise is one of those basement bands. Let us see what we have.

Michael Kilborn and Gordon Denhart make up the St. Petersburg twosome, and seem to play a borderline version Technical Death Metal like Suffocation and older DM like Death as well. Mr. Kilborn handles the main guitars and bass while his partner in metallic crime Mr. Denhart does vocals, guitars and programs the drums... and that is where I slip into high gear - or coma.

Getting past the ridiculously amateurish cover art that made me roar with laughter many times, I found that Never To Arise can play more than just acceptable metal. I love the infectiously heavy guitars as they pummel you into submission with its acrid lines and razor sharp solos, not to mention that the bass weaves its low end rumbling mayhem in to your cortex. With all that heavy and entrail painted goodness, the letdown of the album is not the demonic vocals but the cartoon like programmed drums that just fails to add any heart into the music and detracts from the wonderful gore covered music.

If Never To Arise got a few more players including a good HUMAN drummer, this would be on so many top ten lists around the world. As "Hacked To Perfection" stands, no one could ever overlook the digital staleness of drum programming that leaks through the music like a flood and this project falls from a possible ‘9' or better for a rating to what this album truly deserves in this state.

Too bad for the Floridian Death-dealers, this album could have blown my mind with a very good drummer anchoring the music and letting their massive sound live. The real musicians do let the music come, but the computer drummer left a bad taste in my mouth like a dose of ipecac... anyone got some strong Scope©?

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 8.5
Atmosphere: 6
Production: 6 (drum machines must die!!)
Originality: 7
Overall: 7

Rating: 6.9 out of 10

Review by Chris Pratl on February 13, 2019.

As the year winds down amidst a musical torrent of relatively middle-road releases for me, Sweden once again seems bent on proving to the rest of the metal world that they are producing more than just rehashed black metal and copycat 90's death metal. 

The ring has seen its share of traditional metal bands pop up in recent months and, for the most part, they have been very apt at creating a solid case for sanctioned mimicry. That said, Air Raid finally produces its first full-length release after a pretty solid EP in Danger Ahead, itself a full-speed ahead foray into the dusty din of heavy metal antiquity. Try as they might, the younger generation couldn't kill this sound with a book of matches or a stained goblet of gore. 

Night of the Axe provides exactly what you think it might: a crunchy blueprint into past architecture that calls upon the likely culprits in Judas Priest and Saxon while standing tall next to modern heavyweights as Steelwing or Spellcaster. The vocals are a throaty rasp that takes full advantage of the clean bellowing that I personally grew up on, and it's done without benefit of overplaying a vocal hand. There are no bells and whistles to overcompensate for a lack of anything; there are even moments where I hear some Warrel Dane tones to Michael Rinakakis' delivery. This is particularly noteworthy in “Dying Man”, which has all of the earmarks of viable heavy metal brashness from any given era. 

Lyrically and musically, Air Raid defies the odds and emerges well over the contemporaries when attempting to create music of such an empowering caliber. When I listen to this record for the second time I hear quite a bit of Grave Digger's influential take on fantasy-evoking verses throughout, but the real attention-grabber for me is the guitar solos that take the best that Scott Gorham would have offered had he joined a full-on metal outfit long ago. The riffs are crisp and glorified in all the right spots, adding the right amounts of punch, thickness and credulity to the music as it passes the ear canals with all of the trepidation of a steroid-jacked earwig vying for a safe haven. The fine production that accentuates the guitar tones pretty nicely is great, but I don't hear much bass in the mix which is unfortunate because it would have been a much heavier sound with some back end holding up the foundation, but it's a small gripe.

What I actually found wonderful was the instrumental track “Reminisce”, which literally comes right on the hells of the speedy “Call of the Warlock” and settles all of the swirling dust underfoot in slight, careful wisps of wonder. It's an absolutely inspired place to put it as opposed to the obligatory final track settlement that, while still a great track, might not have had the same emotional resonance it had easing the tempestuousness of the preceding tracks. I dig that sort of careful placement that might otherwise seem throw-away ideas. When you get to the finale in “A Blade in the Dark” the Iron Maiden feel is so incredibly vibrant that I can't help but think back to the Powerslave or Somewhere in Time eras and smile, knowing that finally someone understands that use of subtle nuances are much more advantageous than full-on thievery; this should be handed out in manuals for any new band bent on recreating the wheel past the first chapter of “Chapter One: You Can't Reinvent the Wheel”. Just go with your inspirations and create your own music, a feat Air Raid does quite well. 

Within the span of 40-minutes Air Raid takes you on a journey into heavy metal supremacy with ten tracks designed primarily to elevate your stagnated expectations beyond what you could imagine It's actually refreshing to hear such basic elements being used to their most supreme potential. If I were to say this is very much like a great 80's metal entry it would most likely unfairly date the music, so I'll just suffice it to say that this little jaunt backwards is definitely a full leap forward.

Rating: 8 out of 10

(Originally written for www.metalpsalter.com)

Review by Chris Pratl on February 13, 2019.

As the year winds down amidst a musical torrent of relatively middle-road releases for me, Sweden once again seems bent on proving to the rest of the metal world that they are producing more than just rehashed black metal and copycat 90's death metal. 

The ring has seen its share of traditional metal bands pop up in recent months and, for the most part, they have been very apt at creating a solid case for sanctioned mimicry. That said, Air Raid finally produces its first full-length release after a pretty solid EP in Danger Ahead, itself a full-speed ahead foray into the dusty din of heavy metal antiquity. Try as they might, the younger generation couldn't kill this sound with a book of matches or a stained goblet of gore. 

Night of the Axe provides exactly what you think it might: a crunchy blueprint into past architecture that calls upon the likely culprits in Judas Priest and Saxon while standing tall next to modern heavyweights as Steelwing or Spellcaster. The vocals are a throaty rasp that takes full advantage of the clean bellowing that I personally grew up on, and it's done without benefit of overplaying a vocal hand. There are no bells and whistles to overcompensate for a lack of anything; there are even moments where I hear some Warrel Dane tones to Michael Rinakakis' delivery. This is particularly noteworthy in “Dying Man”, which has all of the earmarks of viable heavy metal brashness from any given era. 

Lyrically and musically, Air Raid defies the odds and emerges well over the contemporaries when attempting to create music of such an empowering caliber. When I listen to this record for the second time I hear quite a bit of Grave Digger's influential take on fantasy-evoking verses throughout, but the real attention-grabber for me is the guitar solos that take the best that Scott Gorham would have offered had he joined a full-on metal outfit long ago. The riffs are crisp and glorified in all the right spots, adding the right amounts of punch, thickness and credulity to the music as it passes the ear canals with all of the trepidation of a steroid-jacked earwig vying for a safe haven. The fine production that accentuates the guitar tones pretty nicely is great, but I don't hear much bass in the mix which is unfortunate because it would have been a much heavier sound with some back end holding up the foundation, but it's a small gripe.

What I actually found wonderful was the instrumental track “Reminisce”, which literally comes right on the hells of the speedy “Call of the Warlock” and settles all of the swirling dust underfoot in slight, careful wisps of wonder. It's an absolutely inspired place to put it as opposed to the obligatory final track settlement that, while still a great track, might not have had the same emotional resonance it had easing the tempestuousness of the preceding tracks. I dig that sort of careful placement that might otherwise seem throw-away ideas. When you get to the finale in “A Blade in the Dark” the Iron Maiden feel is so incredibly vibrant that I can't help but think back to the Powerslave or Somewhere in Time eras and smile, knowing that finally someone understands that use of subtle nuances are much more advantageous than full-on thievery; this should be handed out in manuals for any new band bent on recreating the wheel past the first chapter of “Chapter One: You Can't Reinvent the Wheel”. Just go with your inspirations and create your own music, a feat Air Raid does quite well. 

Within the span of 40-minutes Air Raid takes you on a journey into heavy metal supremacy with ten tracks designed primarily to elevate your stagnated expectations beyond what you could imagine It's actually refreshing to hear such basic elements being used to their most supreme potential. If I were to say this is very much like a great 80's metal entry it would most likely unfairly date the music, so I'll just suffice it to say that this little jaunt backwards is definitely a full leap forward.

Rating: 8 out of 10

(Originally written for www.metalpsalter.com)