Penthagon - Penthagon (2012)

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Penthagon - Penthagon (2012)

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I consider myself a man of reasonable expectations, and when it comes to re-interpreting the thrash metal genre with modern sensibilities, I don’t ask much. What I ask for is that any band seeking to merge anything resembling the melodic sensibilities, to any extent, that have been present in the recent metalcore/melodeath craze to do so without over-emphasizing the blatant Nevermore riff worship, knock off the really lame sounding pseudo-hardcore screams imported from In Flames and All That Remains, and also make a concerted effort not to sound like however many countless bands have been ripping ideas from “Far Beyond Driven” for the past 18 years. These expectations largely seem to be too much to ask when dealing with a number of American bands and even a handful of newer German ones it seems, but a band from the Italian thrash scene has actually managed to pull off something that hasn’t been done 500 times already (and badly in most cases).

Just to be fully forthcoming, Penthagon’s rather ambitious debut is not quite a certified masterpiece of outright innovation and genre bending to the extent of what Vektor has been putting out. Much of what has been put together here has been heard in one sense of another in the late 80s, the early 90s, or the early 2000s. The approach is definitely technical, appropriating a number of progressive influences from the aforementioned Nevermore, including some of the heavy, groove elements, though they are employed sparingly amid a plethora of melodic hooks and bone-splitting speeders that cut with almost the same intensity as Warbringer or Violator. Even when the band slows down almost to Machine Head territory on the album’s semi-ballad “Asleep Or Awake”, the combination of competent vocal work and comprehensive attention to detail dwarfs anything that Robb Flynn has been capable of coming up with since he cut ties with Vio-Lence.

An important thing to keep straight about this debut is that in spite of a healthy amount of modern additives, it listens more like a transitional early 90s thrash album that still kept a lot of the 80s elements in play, such as Cyclone Temple’s “I Hate, Therefore I Am” and Overkill’s “Horrorscope”. Particularly when dealing with the continual path crossings of fast and mid-paced traditional thrash riffing and modern, tremolo steeped, and semi-death metal interludes hear on “No Way Out” and “Labyrinth Of Fear”, two songs which are ironically among the shortest found on here. But this album’s crowning achievement is the long-winded 7 minute epic “In The Name Of Peace”, which almost seems to be channeling some metalcore elements during the clean sung chorus section, yet is otherwise a violent display of mad riffing right out of the early 90s model, all without falling into the hyper-repetitive ruts that some albums from that era would get stuck in.

Interestingly enough, if a very close analysis of this band’s riffing style occurs, a lot of familiar elements from the present Robb Flynn and former Dimebag Darrel approach are evident at several points on this album, but they are so subtle that they actually conform to the meaty, heavy handed thrash approach rather than robbing it of its punch the way that tends to happen on the typical Machine Head album. Furthermore, while vocalist Marco Spagnuolo employs a fair amount of gruff and gusto throughout this album, he is also a superior clean singer and able to do things with his voice that most traditional thrash or modern groove vocalists can’t, such as harmonize and not sound like a depressed grunge songwriter in decrepit flannels on the street corner. Consequently, unlike a number of non-thrash songs that have been butchered by vocalists in this style, the Queen cover “Innuendo” turns out to be worthy of the original and also impressive in its own rite.

While I’m not usually a huge proponent of bands mixing present day practices with older ones, this is definitely one of those exceptions and should be looked into by both modern and old school head bangers alike. At times it gets a little bit convoluted amid all of the contrasting elements that are compressed into these largely standard length songs, but it’s pretty easy to get into and also has a fair amount of staying power.

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