The hype machine goes into overdrive for this French band on their press sheet, practically proclaiming them the new saviors of heavy metal. Well, while I wouldn’t go quite that far, HEART ATTACK created a surprisingly engaging and energetic record in Negative Sun that touches on several styles of metal.
First off, this sounds as good as any major league release you’ll find. Everything pops, including bass and drums. That ticks an important box right there. In no way would I describe HEART ATTACK as a very original band, but they are very clever in how they weave different influences into a seamless whole. There’s quite a bit of old school Bay Area thrash like METALLICA and EXODUS here, but it’s combined with a very modern metal feeling. The press sheet brings up MACHINE HEAD as a comparison and I do hear that, but there’s a kind of hardcore ground and pound to the riffing as well. Guitar solos can be quite melodic and shredding, bringing melo-death like IN FLAMES to mind. They also used a multi-pronged vocal attack mixing angry clean shouts with roars. Toss in a slight nu-metal feel to certain breakdowns and you have a stew called HEART ATTACK.
It’s modern “tough guy” metal at its core, but done extremely well and with enough real aggression that most bangers will be able to get into it. Fave songs: ‘Wings Of Judgement’, ‘Twisted Sacrifice’, ‘Take Back Your Pride’. Even the GENESIS cover, ‘Jesus He Knows Me’, mostly works, with the exception of one horrendous attempt at a poppy chorus line.
Review By: Dr. Abner Mality
HEART ATTACK
Negative Sun
Atomic Fire Records
3.5 / 6