German band Headhunter have not exactly done a lot in recent years with vocalist/bassist Schmier dedicating his time to Destruction. With their back catalogue from the early nineties having been reissued recently, Parasite Of Society could probably not come soon enough for Headhunter followers.
After the joke funfair style instrumental of ‘3rd
Man Introduction’ the CD kicks properly with title track ‘Parasite Of Society’
and the thought that the album is just going to be full of
bad Slayer rip offs comes to mind. Luckily ‘Silverskull’
redeems things wonderfully with a thrash sound that takes in
old Savatage and Testament. This song is probably the
best on offer and along with ‘Remission’ helps to make the
strongest part of the album. ‘Remission’ starts with what
is a ‘Planet Caravan’ style introduction before moving into
similar territory as ‘Silverskull’, with some slower guitar
moments thrown in. As this works well it is sad that
hereafter the album offers very little.
There is the obvious comparison to Destruction due to Schmier’s tones, and it is with the vocalist in mind that
the cover of ‘18 And Life’ has to be discussed. If it
was
going to work then it had to be totally torn to shreds, made
raw with energy and given a certain edge so that it was not
directly comparable to the original. Shame then that any
tweaks made by Headhunter really do nothing that is
drastically different form the original. The song therefore
ends up being a comparison between the two vocalists,
something that Schmier will always lose.
There’s not too much to say about the remainder of the
album, everything goes along being pretty much the same,
with the noticeable exception of the ‘Dawn Patrol’ sounding
intro to ‘Backs To The Wall’. While the latter half of the
album doesn't contain bad songs necessarily, they even
throw in a second cover, Judas Priest’s ‘Rapid Fire’, there
is nothing to stop the album being construed as a bit boring
in places. With younger exciting thrash bands on the rise
Parasite Of Society does little for the old guard.
Darren Brushneen
