Dead Precedence

Shatterpoint had finally delivered their long-awaited debut album. This Brampton, Ontario, Canada based band has been ripping up the Toronto area for the last several years with their neck-breaking brand of thrash metal that borrows a little from the more modern extreme forms of metal, hardcore as well as serving up a healthy dose of 80's influenced thrash metal. I reviewed their 6 song demo Consequences a couple of years back and was very impressed with their brand of metal that was full of sudden stops and tempo changes as well as their ability to write huge monstrous metal riffs. Top it all off with vocalist Shane Drake's two pronged vocal attack of mixing cleaner and more melodic vocal styles with guttural Morbid Angel type growls and you have a recipe for a great metal band. Consequences was a great start for this band and the success of that 6 song demo landed them a label deal with Power Play Records in the U.S. With producer Greg Dawson at the helm once again, Shatterpoint unleashes Dead Precedence upon the metal masses. As a bonus, 4 tracks from Consequences are included in the package as bonus tracks.

The benefit of financial backing via a label deal has paid off in the production of this album. Not that the sound of Consequences was bad (it was actually very good for a self-released demo), but the overall sound of Shatterpoint has vastly improved with Dead Precedence. The drums sound huge with lots of bottom end from the bass and the guitars have a thicker and chunkier sound that gives each and every track an extra edge of heaviness. As with Consequences, the songs on Dead Precedence are chocked full of "machine gun" riffing, chugging heavy breakdowns and the sort of breakneck speed that was a staple of 80's thrash metal. The numerous and abrupt tempo changes that seem to be a trademark of this band are aplenty here as well. Tracks like Today's Promises Are Tomorrow's Lies, Thorn Inside, Out Falls The Pain and the title track Dead Precedence tend to jump allover the place with very sharp, dramatic and often chaotic tempo changes. Shane Drake's vocal delivery ranges from barking and aggressive to more melodic and traditional metal styles as seen with tracks like Out Falls The Pain and No-one Else To Blame. His "cleaner" vocal style really reminds me of Matt Barlow (ex-Iced Earth) whereas his deep guttural growls are sure to send chills down your spine. Harmonized riff breaks and some great shredding lead guitar work by guitarist Greg Wright add dimension to Shatterpoint's sound and if I had to put in a few words what they sound like, I would say combine Pantera, The Haunted and Machine Head as far as the more "modern" influences and mix it in with 80's Anthrax and Testament....oh....and shake well before serving!!

I really like this band and seeing them live is testament to how solid these four guys are as musicians. They are masters of their craft and have a fairly clear goal in mind as to what Shatterpoint should be all about. However, despite the awesome sound and musicianship found on Dead Precedence I can't help but feel that this band is still trying to find themselves. The chaotic and sudden tempo changes are very cool but when every track has them, they lose their impact and effectiveness on the listener. Also, as many will agree, great monster riffs and a great sound do not always result in great songs. Shane Drake really needs to find a style and confidence that will push this band even further. Songs that do have a more melodic sense vocally just don't quite have the impact that they could if Shane only had a better grasp on that that type of singing style. While singing more aggressively or barking out one of the many deep gutteral growls, he seems more at ease and confident. The overall energy level seems to be a bit below what we saw with the Consequences CD. On that album, the riffs were catchier and everything with the band's sound just seemed to gel nicely. Although Dead Precedence is a very good album, I sense that Shatterpoint is still capable of better. All the elements are there and with their debut album now under their belt, this band is poised to make that all important second album. A lifetime to write your first album and a year (maybe two) to write your second. A very solid beginning for these guys.

Check out their MySpace page.