Stephen
"Cry Havoc" is the fourth release of Destrophy which puts the band in a very different musical adventure. The band spin the steer to embrace the classic sounding of traditional heavy metal and 80s glam, but of course still with a modern sounding, only this time the melodies is abundant and they managed to create an ultra catchy sing-along choruses which in the end will probably alienate their former fans as seen in couple of websites, alternative metal community condemned them with 2 stars, and that's just silly, because this record will never ever get anything smaller than the solid 4 stars in my book.
Reason of the style changing remains unclear but I believe it's a part of evolution and the rise of 80s decade in the past years might be the trigger but whatever it is, "Cry Havoc" is totally a pleasant surprise for me, as the uplifting spirit, huge-as-globe hooks, and limitless energy that can be found here are their strong selling point. From the pounding drums of the title track, to the anthemic chorus of "We Are Alive", from the superior melodic riffs of "Seven Nights" to the furious groove of "All My Life", these first four tracks are the best, kick the volume as loud as possible and you'll get the optimum listening enjoyment.
"Still Bleeding" or "Misery" aren't as good as the first but still big enough to avoid being lumped in the filler junkyard. "Closer" is another single-potential, the chorus is plain awesome. "What Would We Say" is probably the least track here, but the other ballad, "Hello", is another good one with a brilliant tale of a suicidal call on its lyric, agonizing yet applauding at the same time.
If you like a modern hard rock/heavy metal with enough trace of melody and accept the band's change with their departure of their alternative metal roots, this album is a keeper and might climb to several people's top albums of 2011. The vocal is rough and gritty, some neat solo guitars there but somehow most are just too short. All songs are around 3 minutes mark and the latter half is slightly weaker, but overall, this one is utterly amazing and another gem you can grab out of Victory Records' shelf.