Cold Fate - Figures in Black (independent) 2010
1. Intro (1:18)
2. Long Live the King (5:19)
3. No Love Lost (3:47)
4. Bloodlust (4:38)
5. Cast The Stone (4:18)
6. Ashes to Ashes (5:23)
7. Figures in Black (4:04)
8. Apocalypse (4:08)
9. The Edge of Hell (4:52)
Cold Fate is an Australian thrash metal band featuring former Mortification/Grave Forsaken drummer Dave Killgalon. The band was formed in 2007 by guitarist Cameron Nicholas and vocalist Paul Di Scerni. The band began life performing covers of Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, Kreator, Overkill etc. "Figures in Black" is the band's independently released debut album. Stylistically the band isn't far off from the influences they proudly list, and also similar to what Dave's band Grave Forsaken has been doing on recent album. The music is mostly fast to mid-paced thrash metal with some classic heavy metal influences peeking through at times. Most songs are fast paced, such as the full-throttle title track or the Slayer-influenced thrasher "No Love Lost". However, they offer a nice variety in the tempo, even within the scope of one song. The songwriting is slightly progressive throughout. The album's first actual song, after a short intro, starts off as a Maiden-esque metal romp before building into a faster paced thrasher. The acoustic opening to "Ashes to Ashes" is quite nice and off-sets the heavy tone of the previous songs nicely. This particular song has a "Ride the Lightning"-era Metallica influence.
Overall, I can honestly say that I absolutely love the music on "Figures in Black". However, I found the vocals to be distracting, almost like they were sitting on top of the music, rather than blending with the music. Vocalist Paul Di Scerni mostly shouts and has an aggressive, gritty voice. However, for reasons I can't quite put my finger on, they detract from the music rather than add to it. I have a sneaking suspicion this has more to do with the low-budget recording than it does with Paul's performance. For an independent release, on what I can only assume was a shoe-string budget, the recording certainly isn't bad. All instruments are heard clearly.
Despite being at odds with the vocals, I gave this CD plenty of spin time before writing anything about it. I think this band will have a lot to offer if they continue to perform and record. The music really is something special. Cold Fate steer clear of the all-speed-all-the-time eithic and offer some high-caliber, well-written thrash metal songs. While many retro-thrash metal bands can thrash, fast and furious, few offer songs that are more than just "thrash for thrash sake". Cold Fate definitely has more than that going for them.