{"id":21451,"date":"2014-09-08T00:01:09","date_gmt":"2014-09-08T00:01:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=21451"},"modified":"2014-09-08T18:25:40","modified_gmt":"2014-09-08T18:25:40","slug":"album-review-october-31-bury-the-hatchet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/album-review-october-31-bury-the-hatchet\/","title":{"rendered":"OCTOBER 31 – Bury The Hatchet (2014) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

OCTOBER 31
Bury The Hatchet<\/strong><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nHells Headbangers (2014)<\/span>
Rating: 8\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Having formed back in 1995, Virginia headbangers October 31 have been plying their trade with reasonable success and rightly so, as this is the sort of uncompromising band we need to march on through the trends which attempt to hinder our path.<\/p>\n

October 31 are fronted by Deceased mainman King Fowley, whose tone is perfect at reviving the grumbling sounds of the 80s. This is solid, spooky metal spiked with the fantastic leads of Brian \u201cHellstorm\u201d Williams and the chunky rhythms of Matt Ibach. Behind them, and creating their own impenetrable fortress of doom, is long-standing bassist Jim Hunter (Twisted Tower Dire, While Heaven Wept) and on drums Sean Wilhide who joined in 2012.<\/p>\n

October 31 have always been consistent with their recorded output. Their debut platter The Fire Awaits You<\/em> may initially have seemed a little out of time and place when it was released in 1997, but just like any good, no frills band, October 31 stuck to their smoking guns. Their brand of muddy metal made it to a sophomore effort, 1999\u2019s Meet Thy Maker<\/em>, which belched hotter fires than the debut and most definitely enabled these guys to become more of a cult act, simmering away in the metal underground like some foul demon chomping at the bit to bring metal back to the masses.<\/p>\n

Sadly, the band went through a sticky patch shortly afterwards, although 2003\u2019s live opus Stagefright<\/em> filled the gap for those fans eager for another bite, and two years after that the combo returned to the fray with 2005\u2019s No Survivors<\/em>. Oddly, the band once again became sporadic, with the next few years seeing the release of just a couple of EPs and a single before this ten-track album emerged.<\/p>\n

So, as one expected from a band of this calibre, Bury The Hatchet<\/em> is a strong presence but one which doesn\u2019t overstay its welcome. Clocking in at just a shade over 40 minutes, the album begins with the sturdy \u2018Tear Ya Down\u2019, which in a sense hints at some of metal\u2019s more rugged and certainly underrated bands that have come and gone over the years. A throbbing bass-line, a rigid pulverising drum and of course, those fiery leads are all thrown into the melting pot, seasoned with crunching riffs and then finished off with Fowley\u2019s booming, yet understated vocal delivery.<\/p>\n

This is classic metal wrapped up in devilish connotations and murderous intent, none more evident than on the brooding title track and the creeping \u2018Down At Lover\u2019s Lane\u2019. What\u2019s so magical about October 31 is that here we have a band that lives up to its name; if you were a teenager back in the 80s and you picked up an album under this moniker you\u2019d expect dark tales constructed of bruising guitars, weighty drums and daubed with atmospheric lyrics, and these guys just do not let you down. Oddly, I\u2019m reminded of the first time I ever heard The Dark<\/em> (1986) by Metal Church and some of Meliah Rage\u2019s powerful expressions, but that\u2019s not to say this sounds the same – it\u2019s just that it belongs in that category of pumping, thrash-laced, horror-tinged metal. For a prime example, look no further than the aggressive trudge of \u2018Gone To The Devil\u2019 or the ogre-ish charm of \u2018Voodoo Island\u2019… great stuff!<\/p>\n

Forget the gimmicks of daft costumes or pretentious occult references; this is just straight-up, sincere heavy metal that\u2019ll have you banging your head beyond the flickering phantasmagoria of All Hallows\u2019 Eve.<\/p>\n

Neil Arnold<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

OCTOBER 31Bury The Hatchet Hells Headbangers (2014)Rating: 8\/10 Having formed back in 1995, Virginia headbangers October 31 have been plying their trade with reasonable success and rightly so, as this is the sort of uncompromising band we need to march on through the trends which attempt to hinder our path. October 31 are fronted by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,1406],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21451","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-ep-reviews","category-october-31"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21451","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21451"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21451\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21457,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21451\/revisions\/21457"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21451"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21451"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21451"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}