Album Review: Game Over - Face The End
Reviewed by Sam Jones
Amongst Italian heavy metal, Game Over may be one of the nation’s most perseverant bands, forming in 2008 out of the province of Emilia-Romagna, and since their inception they’ve hardly stopped for a minute. Having started in the midst of the thrash revival of the late 2000s their early years are littered with Demos and Eps before unveiling their first full length album, 2012’s For Humanity, a record I fondly remember being everywhere back in the day when j was making my own foray into the wider world of thrash. With uninterrupted succession the band have since gifted us a new album almost every two to three years. However this exception came after 2017’s Claiming Supremacy, which saw a gap of six years occur before they ended such a streak with their last record, 2023’s Hellframes. Now right on cue, Game Over return after another two years with their sixth and latest album, penned for an April 25th release date: Face The End. What will be interesting however is how newcomer Vocalist Fanny Schiavina fits into the band’s on-record chemistry considering past Vocalist Renato Chiccoli was there right from the start. It’s a pleasure to keep listening to Game Over’s upcoming release because they’re a band I know I should really invest more time into. With Face The End being the fifth record released through Scarlet Records, I was hoping this would finally entice me to dig further into their catalogue.
We must immediately address the change in vocals. If longtime fans had any trepidation regarding how these vocals may change the essence of Game Over I think they can rest assured knowing the band’s soundscape hasn’t been tampered, if anything it feels like new energy and strength has been injected into their performance. It may only be Schiavina’s first album credit with Game Over but I can see a glorious future in him for his performance possesses a drive and momentum that seemingly accelerates the rest of the band’s performance. The man’s youth surely aids the band too for whilst his delivery is more baritone and deeper than most, you can tell very little has impaired his vocal cords. As a consequence you’ll feel the projection of his delivery with much greater clarity than frontmen who have been shredding their own cords for years, and given Game Over’s crunching style of thrash the songwriting and vocals go together naturally.
Where some thrash acts aspire to write more complex and unpredictable songs where we don’t know where we’re being led, Game Over certainly champion the approach whereby we know full well what’s coming but the sheer entertainment is so great we fall entirely for it. Game Over, across their career, have had their dramatic, melancholic moments but for the most part the band have thoroughly embraced the side of thrash that says “kick back, mosh, have a good time”. This variation of thrash isn’t best suited to longer tracks and is thus no surprise as per why the tracks included here are short and get right to the point. In addition, the band’s riffs are pretty grounded and aren’t anything that would require you extra time to comprehend their complexities. The band will assail you with their riffs through verses, bridges and chorus, but on the whole Game Over strip away all potential fat to leave only the most crucial parts to enjoy.
As a result of the band’s short tracks, Face The End features a particularly ripping pace wherein you’ll suddenly find yourself at the halfway point, then approaching the end. As memory serves me, this is the first album from them in some time to really feel like it’s gunning for the end; that’s not because they just want to race us from one point to the end, but because the record possesses such an organic flow, such an entertaining vibe, that we can’t help but be fully engrossed by its thrashing assault. Granted, the simplified take on thrash metal and new vocal style helps in droves but these are merely tendrils off a band who by now have refined their sound thoroughly. This is no thrash act figuring out how best to convey their strength, but an act who have mastered themselves. It’s no error in saying that thrash that feels great to experience will always draw in crowds and Face The End is today’s monument to that statement. Once you know you’ve reached the end, you’ll feel as if it were far too brief and thus a replay of this record won’t feel so daunting, nor too bad an idea.
Another reason why this record feels so sublime to listen to might be due to how reserved it actually is. Against the myriad of thrash today Game Over really are the more grounded, and reserved, acts you’ll encounter. They may not be as ripping and outright destructive as other thrash bands but they will always be a band you know you can return to any hour, of any day, of any year. Face The End really exemplifies this idea for you’ll never feel like you’re being tested to experience its quality, rather the band are inviting you wholeheartedly on board with them to share in some beers and good times. Sure, there are bands who are eyeing your jugular from the word go, but Game Over are far more laidback without their aesthetic ever dropping into parodic or humorous territory. There will always be the select tracks where the serious nature inherent in Game Over unmasks itself, and delivers some of the more profound impact the record may offer as “Tempesta” leads into “Crimson Waves”, showcasing the band’s capacity for mature material, yet the band by now have established that they will not forget themselves, understanding the primary reason we listen to thrash: we want to bang our head, and feel good doing it.
In conclusion, Face The End, as a title, could be viewed as metaphorically regarding the band themselves. With a change in lead vocalists after nearly twenty years, one could almost view this as one such end to the band or potentially as a rebirth. As covered, Game Over seem to have tapped into a new branch of life and I’m unsure whether simply bringing in young talent is the sole cause. The band’s songwriting has never vied to be the most profound nor eviscerating out there, there are bands you could deem as being more successful in those regards; but when it comes to sheer, unabashed enjoyment few bands have managed to pull it off in modern thrash like Game Over, for there must be reason behind why they’re now on their sixth album after seventeen years of uninterrupted passion and effort. The straightforward approach they take to thrash may not feature additional niceties other people are looking for but Game Over are nothing but inviting. With a new lease of life surging through them the future seems even brighter for the band, and Face The End will surely see people replaying it over and again. It’s just great thrash and a great time.
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