Struck By Lightning – True Predation
Struck By Lightning – True Predation CD (Translation Loss Records)
Struck By Lightning hail from Columbus, Ohio, USA, which seems important to mention simply because the sound of ‘True Predation’, their second album, seems almost wholly European to me. This is a good thing… a very good thing. The vocal style of frontman Gregory Lahm (formerly of Mouth Of The Architect) exemplifies the thrash-meets-hardcore approach utilized by Tomas Lindberg (At The Gates, Disfear) with a tasty dose of the Swedish death ‘n’ roll sound popularized by L.G. Petrov (Entombed). Struck By Lightning seems rooted in these influences musically too – though elements of ‘Far Beyond Driven’-era Pantera are highly evident, and hints of Mastodon creep in here and there. Travis Kline (drums) and Thomas Owens (bass) make for one hell of a rhythm section, keeping things flowing constantly in a tight, groove-heavy fashion with no distractions and no mercy. Mike Leach (guitars) and frontman Lahm (more guitars) pile riffs on top of riffs to define the band’s sound, utilizing a punishing, slightly fuzzy tone which makes it clear that these guys aren’t messing around. While the aforementioned influences are strong – and I’d be fully satisfied if this were just a band whose approach was playing Pantera songs in the style of Entombed – to cite influences and stop there not only wouldn’t be accurate, it would be doing this band a disservice, because Struck By Lightning have hit upon an entirely new thing here. I listened to ‘True Predation’ three times in a row before going to sleep last night, and am on my fourth run-through this morning – and I am struggling to sit still long enough to focus on trying to write anything at all, much less attempt to define the band’s sound or style. By this time next year I expect to be referencing Struck By Lightning to describe at least half of the new metal records that come my way, putting this band in a leadership role for the future of metal. Do I need to say anything more than that? The Impaler @impalerspeaks
