Serenity Dies – Hacksawcracy (2010)

Hailing from the Maldives, Serenity Dies is a Trash Metal band that takes its roots form the greats such as Slayer, Megadeath, some Metallica, and a little itty bit of Exodus. “Hacksawcracy” is the band’s latest EP release, and it’s ready to compete with the big stars right off the bench.

Keeping the music fresh, we have the traditional Trash foundations with some more modern grooving riffs and clean vocal harmonies that might put down the purist of the genre, but we think they are very well crafted and mixed into the band’s sound. For almost 30 minutes this up and coming band makes a powerful statement with “Hacksawcracy”.

The male vocals are very good and have enough energy/anger to convey the band’s anti-government message. Chuck, the band’s vocalist, sometimes sounds like James Hetfield, making this album instantly recognizable. However, the ‘brutal screams’ on “Bullet Reign” are completely awful, luckily they are only used briefly.

The music is very basic but effective. The riffing is pretty strong and has some catchy moments, the blistering solos are well times and never abused. The drumming is very dynamic and brings the music together nicely. As for the bass guitar, we have to say that while nothing out of the ordinary; it does a good job at being ever present in the background.

Produced and mixed by Anssi Kippo, this album sounds perfectly and will surely grant this band a recording deal with a label. All the instruments are very well layered in order to get the full-on Trash experience (with the solos and the drumming), while keeping the modern aspect of the band’s sound perfectly incorporated and not sounding bad at all.

In general, “Hacksawcracy” is a very solid release from a promising young band. If they drop the terrible ‘brutal screams’ from the first song and they focus on using a wider variety of riffs in each of the songs, they can quickly become a very good band. If you are craving some fresh sounding Trash Metal, this is the release for you.

Release: July 15th, 2010

Country: Maldives