Fuelblooded - Inflict The Inevitable
Copro Records

file under speed / thrash metal

Jean: Fuelblooded were formerly known as Sacramental Sachem. After thirteen years of duty the band decided to split and call it a day. They chose to play another style and with that came a new name. This resulted in the birth of Fuelblooded in 2002. After releasing a promo that same year - which was well received by the press - the band drew the attention of Copro Records who would release their full-length.

Now, four years later, Fuelblooded come with their debut ‘Inflict the Inevitable’, producing the most charming sounds. The opener ‘Art Of Life’ immediately crashes into your living room like a train at full speed. The groovy thrash parts swing nicely and mark the basic tempo for the whole disc. With ‘Measure Swords’, ‘Dream Tech Inc.’ and ‘Dissector or Souls’ the band slows it down a bit but they are still very strong. My personal favourite is ‘Hate Of Thousand Ages’ which shows that this band combines many styles and atmospheres. The typical mix of death/thrash riffs and heavy metal melodies set the standard on ‘Inflict the Inevitable’. The vocals are varied, which is always a good thing. The grunts are alternated repeatedly with melodic, clean thrash vocals, especially in the choruses. For comparisons I would refer to Mercenary and the more pounding work of Arch Enemy or At The Gates.

The album is produced by Jacob Hansen and therefore it possesses a great sound. ‘Inflict the Inevitable’ has a bombastic and very clear production. This justifies partly the comparison with Mercenary - also a Jacob production: they use a lot of twin guitars during leads and solos, as well as combining so called ‘tribal’ drums with the varied vocals. However, Fuelblooded creates a style of their own by combining dark music with typical melodies. The artwork for this debut CD is done Travis Smith (Anathema, Opeth, Katatonia), who has delivered a splendid cover for this Dutch band.

The conclusion is that Fuelblooded has delivered a good, varied album that Holland can be proud of.

Rating: 84/100 (details)

http://www.fuelblooded.com