{"id":99778,"date":"2023-04-17T00:00:14","date_gmt":"2023-04-16T23:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=99778"},"modified":"2023-05-11T13:54:31","modified_gmt":"2023-05-11T12:54:31","slug":"album-review-mezzrow-summon-thy-demons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/album-review-mezzrow-summon-thy-demons\/","title":{"rendered":"MEZZROW – Summon Thy Demons (2023) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

MEZZROW
Summon Thy Demons<\/strong><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nFireflash (2023)<\/span>
Rating: 6.5\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Way back in the late 80s a Swedish thrash band named Mezzrow released two decent demos which were followed by an impressive debut album, 1990\u2019s Then Came The Killing<\/em>. In 1991 another demo followed but soon after the band were no more, suffering at the cold, grunge-laced hands of 1993. The combo attempted a return in 2005 but not a lot materialised, then six years later Mezzrow reformed again and now in 2023 were treated to this new full length.<\/p>\n

Okay, so the cover art isn\u2019t great but I’m still stuck in the 80s so it\u2019s more of a reflection on me, but with Summon Thy Demons<\/em> Mezzrow once again gets to vent. However, in spite of its aggression, there is that all too modern air of the mechanical in its drive. So many bands, due to contemporary dynamics, seem to sound rather generic in their structuring, and while vocalist and original member Uffe Pettersson is still at the helm this a record that lacks the identity and charm of the debut. Sure, Then Came The Killing<\/em> emerged during a different time, but with Summon Thy Demons<\/em> there is such a cold and clinical feel, no doubt accentuated by the mastering techniques.<\/p>\n

Even so, throughout this opus there is plenty of crisp and crushing weight and the expected bouts of speed; at times the more technical marrying reminds of me of Annihilator. I can\u2019t deny it\u2019s a solid record; tracks like \u2018What Is Dead May Never Die\u2019 and personal favourites \u2018Through The Eyes Of The Ancient Gods\u2019 and \u2018Blackness Fell Upon The World\u2019 are dark, brooding and clinical tirades delivered not a world away from Megadeth<\/a> but with all the cold steel offered and somewhat chilled by such colourless flashes and grinding.<\/p>\n

Mezzrow is certainly back but I\u2019m concerned that this album will just end up on the pile with all the other formulaic compositions I\u2019ve siphoned through over the last few years.<\/p>\n

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

MEZZROWSummon Thy Demons Fireflash (2023)Rating: 6.5\/10 Way back in the late 80s a Swedish thrash band named Mezzrow released two decent demos which were followed by an impressive debut album, 1990\u2019s Then Came The Killing. In 1991 another demo followed but soon after the band were no more, suffering at the cold, grunge-laced hands of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,5342],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-99778","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-ep-reviews","category-mezzrow"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99778","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=99778"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99778\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":99779,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99778\/revisions\/99779"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=99778"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=99778"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=99778"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}