CoC : Artillery - B.A.C.K. : Review

Artillery - _B.A.C.K._
(Diehard, 1999)
by: Paul Schwarz (7 out of 10)

Artillery are yet another "pioneering" thrash metal band who have been conspicuously forgotten since their mid-eighties heyday and have chosen the late-nineties to re-emerge into the dubious "thrash metal" scene of today, which is composed of a polarisation of cheeky but hugely gratifying nostalgia, and hideously awful rehashes of what in the past were glories. Artillery may have come back to win over a new audience with their distinctly nineties production sheen, and even hints of nineties playing styles, but it seems far more likely they have returned for the sake and at the behest of the more dedicated of their fans. With recognisable names from both the Danish and international metal scene (Andy Sneap, Bo Lund, Tue Madsen and Anders Lundermark) assisting in the production of this comeback, it is no surprise that the result is no crusty, misplaced nostalgia trip, but rather a refreshingly hungry and heavy modern-sounding thrash record, though one with very distinctly old roots and little sway to the commercial viability of the mosh-core or true metal(tm) fraternities. _B.A.C.K._ is nonetheless no album of the year and, though enjoyable and convincing, merely proves that comeback records don't -have- to make a band sound idiotic if they do us the service of taking account of the seven or more years in music and development in production that has taken place since they last graced us with a release.

(article published 15/1/2000)