Raider – Guardian of Fire (Forged in a Meek Spark Thrash)
I like sword guy. I thought sword guy would bring me some thrash fire. But he brings more of a spark that could, some day, ignite into bigger flames of thrash. That requires hands willing to work for it, however, and the work needs to be personal. It is necessary to grind the thrash until it bursts into a new form. Currently, it’s difficult to say whether or not Raider have the hands for the task. There are capable muscles visible under the skin, and they can be trained, but yet…not yet. Guardian of the Fire awaits the day when Raider can forge true modern thrash. Will it come? Not sure, and not yet. This sounds exactly as you would expect it to. It’s the type of thrash forged upon the dying embers of the past.
So let me stop being colorful and get to it. Raider play thrash. There are riffs backed by bass, drums, and vocals. The vocals screech here, they screech there, the bass is somewhere doing something, the drums play a beat, and there’s nothing more. Guardian of Fire is “independently released” defined and about as good as that type of thrash can get. Raider pull out some decent action some moments, as well as impressive solos, but what they lack is personality. Hard-working, cool guys, sure, but that doesn’t make it the fiery path the cover claims it protects. This is old thrash, not the modern types that have been developing over the past decade. The only people who aren’t sick of old thrash are old enough to remember it. I remember, but I like to feel young and on fire and this isn’t going to do it.
Written by Stanley, Devourer of Souls
Raider – Guardian of Fire
Self-Released
Cover Art: Mario Lopez
3.6 / 5
