Time Signature
The Coming of Chaos...
Genre: tech thrash metal
Holy shit! This one really rocks. Target is probably one of the more obscure European thrash bands from the 1980s, but quite frankly, if judging on the basis of "Master Project Genesis" also one of the best of the lot.
Stylistically, "Master Project Genesis" falls under the rubric of progressive or technical thrash metal. Each track on the album features several twists and turns, and there are a lot of sudden changes, breakdowns and build-ups. To this, you can add guitar harmonies, many of which are deliberately dissonant, drawing on scale intervals that are not that commonplace in Western popular music. There are also a number of odd metered passages. The neat thing is that all of this is neatly balanced by simpler or more aggressive sections, some of which are thrashy while others are more in the vein of speed metal and US Power metal.
Like Anthrax, Target make use of melodic vocals, although Yves Lettanie's voice is less clean and less powerful than that of Joey Belladonna. The combination of fierce thrash and complex progressive music on the one hand and melodic vocals on the other works incredibly well.
The album was released in 1988, so do not expect a crisp and pristine modern-sounding album. The album does sound a bit fuzzy, and the drums have an organic sound to them. I like this. It's authentic. What's more, the bass is very audible and place smack in the middle, which gives the overall sound a sort of warm and round feel to it.
"Master Project Genesis" is one of the best 80s progressive/technical thrash albums. It is more straight ahead than the likes of Watchtower, but still full of quirks and awesome stuff. Fans of Watchtower, Realm, Mekong Delta and Unleashed Power should definitely track down a copy of this album.