Review by Vladimir on January 3, 2024.

Well folks, it is time to dive deep into some thrash metal which I haven’t done in a while, and the topic of this review will be covering the polish thrash metal band Snake Eyes, more specifically their second full-length album No One Left To Die, released on April 2nd, 2022 via Defense Records. 

Snake Eyes provides a very tight and complex thrash metal performance with heavy and aggressive guitar work consisted of either triple picking riffs or downpicking at times, backed up by thrashing or mid-tempo drums and dry female harsh vocals that border with oldschool death metal. Aside from the usual thrash metal speed, aggression and musical hatred, there also seems to be a strong emphasis on atmosphere in every song, mostly expressed during slower sections and solos which manage to create a certain world that surrounds you as the song goes. Best examples that showcase a bit of both, is the fifth track 'Talamasca' that relies on both dark atmosphere and technical heaviness, a very solid combination of two worlds that was quite successfully and effectively carried out. 

The overall songwriting on this album has a very strong stylistic consistency, yet every song tries out something new, while also providing a different riff progression from one section to another. The great thing is that all songs manage to express some form of extreme aggression without feeling dry or effortless, which is by far the biggest strength of this album. The only weakness about this album is the fact that there isn’t really a song on this album that stands out in particular, without there being any awesome riff or memorable chorus, and at times it feels almost like the album is just meant to follow the same template from one song to another and call it a day. It is a bit of a letdown considering that there is such a strong and overdriven performance from the band on every side that could have easily shown its bigger potential, perhaps even introduce an element of surprise that would have you coming back to this album more frequently. The only real stand out is the final track 'Sigh Of Death' which is an instrumental all the way through with a strong emphasis on progression and frequent guitar soloing, although it goes on for about 11 minutes and 20 seconds which to some can feel a bit bothersome, but I personally wasn’t that much bothered by it. As for the sound production, it is moderately heavy and very top-notch sounding album, which did a great job with the guitars, distorted bass, drums and vocals. 

Overall, I’d say that No One Left To Die is a fairly good album that was quite enjoyable to listen to, even despite its mild lacklustre nature. Despite how many modern thrash metal bands come and go, we can’t deny the fact that it is just impossible to reinvent the wheel when it comes to the genre as a whole, but that doesn’t mean that the bands won’t give all they got and make something that on its own could be noticed by a solid amount of fans that will enjoy these albums no matter what. 

Rating: 7.7 out of 10

Review by JD on April 7, 2011.

With the influx of so many Death Metal bands from all over the world, it is getting harder to pick out those very few bands that really stand out and deliver something new to the waiting masses - with so many out there, that process is damned near impossible. Looking to the Death Metal capital of Sweden for clarity, we see the five member band Human Desolation looming on the horizon. Perhaps they will bring the true meaning of Death.

They are deemed to be Melodic Death Metal, which they seem to be sort of. They seem to be more of a lackluster take-off (or rip-off) of Metalcore sort of like Killswitch Engage (they do a cover of KE’s 'Fixation Of The Darkness'). Neither of these metal styles they use seems to mesh together, nor do they ever find their own style on this five track EP. It sounds good in theory, but with the lack of any shred of originality in their music, it just does not seem that they have grown enough.

Most of the tracks seem to be exactly like one another, even the badly picked Killswitch Engage cover seems to be almost like the others to the point of sounding like their original songs. The saving grace on this CD is the third song on the disk, one that truly does saves this album from total flopping. 'Until I...' is the lone departure of the bands bland and uninspired style. With a greater style and better song structure, it is a improvement they have offered up. Catchy and brutal with a pulse of pure originality coursing through ever pounding riff. This shows the band has promise if they drop the other unfortunately written material. It is good to hear on an album that is really bad on so many levels, that there is a small grain of hope for that band.

Human Desolation has one track that if they learned from the mistakes of the other songs they have wrote (never copying the song over and over) - they are going to be a band to watch. If they do not, I have my reservations about their future.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 6 (exception of 'Until I...' that is an 8)
Atmosphere: 5
Production: 7
Originality: 4
Overall: 5

Rating: 5.4 out of 10