Dying Victims Productions - 2024
8.5/10
Since the band's inception over fifteen years ago, Sign Of The Jackal have built a career around on-the-nose heavy/speed metal coated in horror themes and silly metal tropes. It may be easy to explain them away as "just another one," but their latest record did catch my attention with the help of a label I love. Titled Heavy Metal Survivors, this outing still definitely fits that musical description in one sentence. Thankfully, they leave an impression just a tad bit deeper than that.
For one, you can gather a blend of speed metal attitude, glam metal sleaze, and NWOBHM structure to work as something that's a very obvious attempt at throwing back to the '80s as a whole. Hell, the spoken-word intro "Eulogy Of The Survivors" sounds like a direct ode to Motley Crue's "In The Beginning," but that's far from the only dark-glam connection. Vocally, the higher falsettos, gang-chants in the choruses, and soft-finished melodies fit right in with that scene. Underneath this is anything ranging from breakneck guitar passages that fly right into your face to loud and screeching solos. Some have a clear focus on that melodic aspect, while others are just trying to pound hard with chunky rhythms before making a swift exit.
It may sound a little all over the place, and at times it definitely is, but I think Heavy Metal Survivors is a self-aware enough release with a chaotic angle that helps sell this as part of its charm. "Pedal To The Metal" and "Buio Omega (Beyond The Darkness)" have some of the nicest "big-hair" chorus's matching rough but righteous melodies; this would fit real snug with the Keel and Motley Crue types. Yet, if you prefer steady but heavy straightforward numbers, have a seat next to the mean snarls of "Nightmare City" or the power-stance kicks of "Shocker," which cuts loose some seriously mean but digestible rhythms. Tunes like the ferocious "Watch Out" or "Slaves Of Hell" remind you that they're not afraid of a little bite to their spice, adding in some Exciter nods and harsh speeds the formula. Some of this likely comes down to the fact that nothing feels forced, but rather works as a band doing whatever comes to them under a horror-drenched aura. The instrumental "Phantasm 6" truly fastens this entire umbrella of influence in tight, topped off with a spooky synth-passage.
Sign Of The Jackal seems like a cornball throwback on paper, but the Italians really knew how to craft something that not only gives that lots of flavor, but makes me want to return to it. Much like the Italian horror genre, this horror-drenched outfit gives something that lets one appreciate the campiness of it, enhancing a solid foundation rather than tarnishing it, complete with catchy hooks. It works well with speed metal, it works well with traditional metal, and it works well with glam metal. Regardless of which one you prefer, you're in for a ride not often pulled-off well by modern bands forcing these directions.
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