Stephen
Canadian's youngblood, Descendant, emerged from winning the local band's competition and financed their second EP, "Pass The Amunition", by the prize of the tournament and also the sales from their first EP. Their determination deserved an appreciation and if you're curious like I did, a little early spoiler for you is that this is roughly a combination of Bay Area thrash gods, Metallica and Testament, some 80s heavy metal element as in Ozzy Osbourne or early Motley Crue, and also some modern metal element to twist the vintage sound.
While the ingredients to start assembling the album sounds very invigorating, Descendant suffers from the same problem of young bands, which is the inconsistency of a good songwriting. At a first glance, I'm pretty sure you'll like the uptempo firestarter "Dance With The Devil", the classic Testament style of "Sins of Youth", and the 80s anthem, "We Are The Night", which is clearly their best track.
"Before My Time", the relaxing vibe with an unusual reggae fill at front, packed with clean guitars and decent singing, is an interesting attempt to vary the album. "Bloodlust" push forward from a jazzy intro to a very heavy track, the thick modern wrap, which also found in "War Machine", might be a great appeal to fans of contemporary metal, but to me, these songs are too average, if not fillers.
Raf Russell's singing style reminds me of a lot to Chuck Billy, some great solos are performed by Mat Brinkworth, and the tight performance of the band is the reason why they're crowned champion a while ago. A promising start for the band, but I truly hope time will shape their skills and claimed them their true identity.