Several years after releasing one of the many albums that carried me through the hopeless year that was 2020, Freeways would come back to show that they weren't a once-and-done act. The Canadians' debut grounded them as a band that tampers within the line that is heavy metal and classic rock influence, with a cool identity that avoids anything too heavy. Dark Sky Sanctuary more or less takes on this exact same path, and some might argue that it's a little more metal oriented. After all, it's Metal Archives acceptable now, so it has to be, right?
Well, sort of. For starters, I wouldn't say that this disc got any heavier than what we had prior. The rhythms take on the same tone, slapping on similar scales in the minor keys, riffs themselves seem to still linger in that '70s-esque shape, and you really can't more cleanly produce what was already squeaky clean. The main change that I've found here is that the pacing feels a bit faster at times. Overall, it doesn't really boost the mood, however it certainly stands out in songs like "Give 'Em The Gears" that kick up the bass rumbles backed with a harder drum kick and overall aggressive delivery. For the most part, though, a lot of this energy is channeled into solos that bring forth a sharper edge on top of otherwise fairly steady rhythm sections. See "Can't Deny Destiny" or "Travelling Heart" for a whiff of what I mean.
Being yet another brief disc, I found this to be extremely digestible, however it may take a few listens to find what's truly unique outside of some songs being a tad more aggressive. From time to time the bass actually takes more precedence than the guitar, likely tying in with it having a heavier rumble in some tunes. Moreover, certain psychedelic elements seem a little more obvious, once again likely having to do with that fuzzy bass, as well as the wandering lead guitars that seem to go up in priority when paired with the galloping sections. Otherwise, I wouldn't expect anything too out of the ordinary.
This leaves Dark Sky Sanctuary feeling like a simple part-two of what has come prior. Make no mistake, this is certainly still packed with catchy choruses and a comforting aura, loading in harmonies one after another to compliment strong melodies. But when you open the gates with such a masterful debut like Freeways' first outing, it may be tough to leap forward from there. This is absolutely still worth picking up, considering its foundation comes from something super strong.
Several years back, during the dark depths of quarantine and unemployment, much of my time was consumed with taking in anything new I possibly could to occupy an idle mind. Of course, that meant hearing a bunch of junk, but Freeways was a band that was anything but; the cover art alone intrigued me. The Canadian quartet's first record titled True Bearings managed to capture something I'll call a cold atmosphere that feels warm inside. So no, this isn't going to be anything harsh or unforgiving.
Quite the opposite! While tunes that feel like they breath hope or anything uplifting are pretty void, the songs are still extremely digestible and comforting. For a majority of this, minor scales and bleak passages pair with strong melody, concise singing, and bouncy rhythms. Riff-wise, it could feel right in place next to your favorite late '60s or '70s rock 'n roll act as well as well as the earlier NWOBHM projects that made the tube amps nice and hot. The end result is a soothing yet melancholic ride that's fitting for a fall evening, perhaps driving through the country.
With that in mind, the best tunes on True Bearings tend to swim back and forth between the scale tones while slapping on a heavier dose of catchiness. "Dead Air" is my personal favorite, weaving in memorable licks and steady execution that slowly turns to a damper atmosphere for the chorus. Blues influence certainly makes its way into this in one form or another, heavily evident on the slower trudge of "Time Is No Excuse" without getting too heavy. Groovy chops are no stranger to the band either, evident immediately in opener "Eternal Light, Eternal Night," and the intro on "Battered & Bruised" lays that on heavily. The latter is another favorite, highlighting the bass-driven bottom, tampering with more metal oriented playing while still containing one of the sleekest and cleanest chorus executions on the disc. The addition of an acoustic guitar was also a nice touch.
Freeways are a fun little outfit, and they're unique in the way they fit the rock 'n roll and heavy metal sound while simultaneously feeling like neither. Sometimes its lighter than a feather, other times bluesy riffs break into a tough bottom. Most importantly, the songwriting itself is top-notch and I can't say anything ever felt awkward. For how short this is, they really crammed a lot into a little.
Amidst the explosion of what we'd come to know and love as thrash metal, it wouldn't take long for it to fall into clearly different paths, with different regions specializing in certain ones as one would expect. We don't need a full lesson on why some went the melodic route, some the gritty and raw route, and some the dark and harsh route. What we do need to acknowledge is that while Slayer quickly fell into a groove that fit with the Bay Area at the time, Show No Mercy and what it achieves specifically has yet to be replicated, even by themselves. I'm writing this over forty years following its release, and I still fail to find something that captures the feelings of the California act's debut record.
The obvious answer is that they're probably the closest any thrash metal band ever came to replicating the Di'Anno era Iron Maiden records with a meaner tone, heavier distortion, and evil overcast barely three years following Iron Maiden. But it takes a little more than obvious influence to run with something of this caliber. Show No Mercy with its impeccable drum tones that break through the darkest channels of the album, with Tom Araya's menacing screams that boast more lung strength than any death metal vocalist could dream of, with its screeching leads that carry us to something unique every time, brings together the aforementioned NWOBHM genius and songwriting and forges a record that collectively feels like a journey through Hell, war, and torture under one of the most evil umbrella's I've ever gotten in music (sorry for the paragraph-long sentence). Making something so blistering and soul-crushing while managing to feel poetic, mature, and structured is a rare feature of its own, but I say again, it has yet to be matched in this regard.
As one might expect, Slayer has a couple different approaches of laying this in front of us while still give everything its own identity. The most obvious might be the direct attacks with a speed metal backbone in mind through the whole run of a song. Probably the record's most well known track, "Black Magic" is the best way to exemplify this, running on the exact same breakneck pace the entire duration, sneaking in wails and delivering a brutal punch with otherwise monotoned vocals and classic metal shrieks. Opener "Evil Has No Boundaries" rolls things off the same way, but with an arguably more hoarse vocal attack, shoving it in our faces in the front before letting Hannemen and King finish us off with multiple solos. To the opposite end, the closing title track lets Lombardo take the forefront, showcasing his beautiful kicks for a hot second to remind us what's present for the entire disc anyway. We could even lump "Fight To Death" and "Die By The Sword in here, but more intricate rhythms are favored here without dropping any of the speed, and I love that for them!
Another approach is taking the dark and evil feelings to the top and letting the lyrics deliver more of the blows than the music itself. "The Antichrist" has to be one of the most evil songs I know, not only with the lyrics but with the extreme conviction in which Tom delivers them, capping it with that "eternally my soul will rot!" which still gives me goosebumps to this day. "Metal Storm/Face The Slayer" will scratch a similar itch, but it's unique in that it does it in two parts, one built on that speed metal front we discussed, while the other cocks-and-loads that horrific Satanic narrative with poetic and concise lyrics that trap the listener themselves into that pentagram. Sometimes that's all it takes; powerful stuff delivered in a way that feels less threatening on paper due to calmer speeds and more digestible progression, but is even meaner in its narrative.
Such musical patterns show brightest on "Crionics," mostly because I think this tune is a blatant nod to the early Iron Maiden records. Its riff structure strips it of everything else I've described, almost feeling melodic yet casting tones dark enough to fit with the rest. The singing is also at its cleanest here. "Tormentor" fits the bill as well, utilizing an almost catchy chorus along with bouncy leads that paint a wonderful portrait of being stalked and captured by something mortifying right off of the night-time streets. Again, I can't stress enough how Tom's never-again-matched delivery plays such an important role. There's not a single bad song to be had, and while I'd probably give "The Final Command" the title of Show No Mercy's worst tune, it's still incredible and sits nicely in place. A faster tune in the mix of the calmer ones that's just as pleasing as the others, it only has a little less to speak on.
It's fun giving endless praise to an album from time to time. Slayer would go forth and create another handful of legendary albums beside their Big 4 counterparts, but they'd never do this again, and neither would anybody. Classic thrash clones exist all over the globe, some good, some not, but none have reached what this one reaches even four decades following. Slayer would soon become easy to meme, despite my soft spot for their music, but not here. Perfect, unique, unsettling, youthful, evil, mature, poetic, catchy, threatening, mean, and gritty are some of many words I would use to sum this up, and it's amazing how some contradict each other but work so swimmingly, painting pictures and scenes in my head I can almost step into. Show No Mercy is an untouchable, unfuckwithable record, right next to Rust In Peace, Among The Living, and The Years Of Decay without having an identity anything like those, outside of simply being thrash metal.
