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Havok - Unnatural Selection
5th Anniversary
Released June 25th 2013
Runtime: 48 Minutes, 31 Seconds
- I Am The State (4:06)
- Give Me Liberty… Or Give Me Death (4:44)
- It Is True (4:51)
- Under The Gun (4:20)
- Waste Of Life (6:22)
- Living Nightmare (5:00)
- Chasing The Edge (5:06)
- Worse than War (5:07)
- Children Of The Grave (4:39)
- Unnatural Selection (4:16)
Pete Webber (Drums)
Mike Leon (Bass)
Reece Scruggs (Guitar/Vocals)
David Sanchez (Guitar/Vocals)
I’m a really big fan of Havok, I feel they’re one of the greatest and most established modern stars of the Thrash scene nowadays. But i hate Conformicide. I think that record is such a massive letdown in comparison to the band’s entire back catalogue of material. I think they tried to achieve far too much with that album instead of simply crafting an enjoyable record which other album of theirs evidently is. But i could slam that album all day, I really like Unnatural Selection though. It had a lot of hype attached to it which many were wondering it could live up to following the band’s arguably breakout release Time Is Up (still viewed by many as a modern classic) and I personally feel while Unnatural Selection didn’t fully surpass its predecessor, it still stands as a highly enjoyable record to be respected especially with its political and social commentary.
While one could state that the band did not continue the overall sound that Time Is Up established on its own record, you can definitely see that the band were keen to really peel themselves away from the myriad of newer thrash bands that have cropped up in the past decade or so. There’s a reason why Havok have excelled so far so quickly, rising prominently in festival lineups and now performing their own headlining tours; they’re here to play Thrash Metal but they’re not about to sell themselves out as emulators of 80s Thrash or simply trying to revive something that a hundred other bands have attempted to do so before. By really putting their foot down to what they’re doing, they’ve set up an identity of their own that’s much more potent and real than many bands in the past. But the hints that they may start attempting things that are a little more experimental or left-field where Thrash is concerned can be found during “It Is True”. Boasting a riff that is extremely intertwined with the Bass work, it makes for a much stranger and unusual listening experience than we’ve received before. This is still a thrash track as other segments of the song will show you but since its dominated by this very bass-heavy riff its made for a sound that’s more than likely going to strike you as something a little different to your contemporary thrash group.
But Christ you have to give Havok credit as riff writers. The band know how to perform a riff and how to best play it on album, the riff to “Under The Gun” is one of the best from the album I personally feel. Its this easily memorable yet hard-hitting and structurally competent riff that gets under your skin and makes itself home there. In fact the guitar work on this album is really well performed, its conveyed with a genuine degree of professionalism and intelligence. Yes its fast an yes its tough, but its also well thought out and delivered through a meaty guitar tone that accentuates a heavy attack. Havok have always had a flair for more politically and socially volatile lyrical capacity and this record really is no different. It feels like its not to the degree that Conformicide reached thankfully where it practically forces this kind of content down your throat but Unnatural Selection contains just the right amount of hard hitting lyrics with a generally entertaining thrash attack that makes these more communicative tracks all the more impacting since we’re not getting constantly bombarded by them. A number of the best tracks off the album are politically critical e.g. “Give Me Liberty… Or Give Me Death”, “Worse Than War” etc.
I have to give them credit for what they accomplished through “Worse Than War”. More often than not the topic of Genocide is treated as a collective cauldron of things that are viewed as negative or nefarious in metal, its a popular trope for sure. But Havok turn things on their heads and create a track that treats the topic of Genocide with reverence and respect. The music video for the same song actually details the 8 stages of Genocide as they’re known as, not many bands i’ve seen have gone into much real detail before with the deft approach that Havok provided here. Also who would have thought that Black Sabbath’s “Children Of The Grave” would sound as such an appropriate track for Havok? As covers go i find this to be exceptionally great, it honours the classic track as it is but infused it with Havok’s own special spin. I don’t think it had to be included on the immediate release of the album, maybe as a bonus track on another special edition but its an enjoyable listen regardless. The bass and drums also deserve some particular mention here too as each aspect of the band is able to keep things entertaining and unpredictable. The drums especially never stop and are always doing something, they’ve more often than not always got some peculiar drum beat going on that strays away from the usual cliche of non stop double bass to produce somethings that’s much more high-octane and merciless.
My favourite tracks off this album are “Give Me Liberty… Or Give Me Death”, “Under The Gun”, “Worse Than War” and “Children Of The Grave”. In conclusion, yes this is not as good as Time Is Up but to simply throw this record away simply based on that assertion that its not as strong as their best record would be utter folly. Unnatural Selection is an excellent album that had the difficult task of following up a modern classic, while I myself don’t count as good as that other record this is still a more than rewarding album listen. Its a hell of a lot better than Conformicide to be frank but many thrash albums could be better than record however Unnatural Selection expands upon Havok’s sound into one that has cemented itself to establish Havok as one of the premier thrash bands of the modern age.
8/10
Written: June 26th 2018
Review #355
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