Album Review: Thirteenth Sign - The Ashes Of A Treacherous Silence
Reviewed by Tim Finch
Nottingham’s Thirteenth Sign describe themselves as melodic death / thrash metal, and having given their latest album a few spins over the last week or so, there is no denying they live up to that billing perfectly.
‘The Ashes of a Treacherous Silence’ is the bands forth studio album, and having taken inspiration from Queensryche’s classic opus ‘Operation:Mindcrime’ they have turned their own album into a thrilling concept. The albums lyrics focus on some of the UK’s most notorious serial killers, but not so much their crimes, but the motivation behind them. Thus the band delves deep into subjects including neglect, domestic violence, depression, suicide and betrayal across the recording.
Passing through the intro and into the album proper, ‘Bond of Wicked Blood’ kicks things off and sets the tone for the next hour of listening. Ferocious, thrashing riffs come forth battering the listeners senses, mixing the styles of death and thrash metal so well. With Reno Ramos’ rasping vocals too boot this reminds me a lot of late At The Gates and early The Haunted, which fits perfectly in the description they give themselves. In the opening track there are interludes of a more clean vocal which sit in contrast with both the music and Ramos’ standard cries. If I’m honest it’s the one thing on the album I am not incredibly keen on, but thankfully as the album progresses the “clean” vocals feature less.
As the album moves on the style and savagery continues. ‘Electric Hammer’ is the highlight for me, perfectly utilised samples helping tell the tale of this particular song and killer. ‘Demons Within’ takes a darker turn, it feels eerie and haunting, keeping the listener on the edge of their seat.
For a band with now four albums under their belts, this is a well polished offering, the band obviously work well together and this shines through. With ‘The Ashes of a Treacherous Silence’ Thirteenth Sign have not only delivered on their first concept album but offer up a snarling beast of a thrashy death metal album that will no doubt resonate for years to come.
