Unitron Taking their longest break between albums so far, four years since 2013's Unnatural Selection, Havok is back for the ultimate thrash attack. The years waiting were well spent, as this may very well be the band's greatest work yet and a new classic thrash metal masterpiece. It has everything that's needed in thrash metal, as well as some not as common elements in thrash.

Where to start? First off, Nick Schendzielos is a bass virtuoso and basically the Flea of thrash metal. Being introduced by bands like Suicidal Tendencies and Mordred, funk has been used in thrash before, but not to this extent. Schendzielos's funky bass licks groove and pierce the skin at the same time. Just take a listen to "F.P.C." and that funktastic opening to "Hang 'em High", and you'll see what I mean. The bass is always incredibly audible, and that makes the album essentially a bass player's heaven. "Peace is in Pieces" features a really cool fading bass run that sounds right out of an old school sci-fi movie. Perhaps the best bass moment on the album comes during the bridge of the finale "Circling the Drain". Damn, the sheer speed of the catchy and funky as hell bassline just immediately makes it impossible to not air-shred along to it.

David Sanchez and Reece Scruggs both deliver killer riffs that punch you in the gut. Every song is a book of riff after riff, that will be shredding through your head long after listening. Most of the time, the guitar grooves like a beast, with punishing hooks that slam you to the ground. Check out the chorus of "Ingsoc", and the grooves will crush your skull. Combine that with some odd-time signature riffing, and you've got a masterpiece. The soloing and harmonies often bring Dimebag to mind, especially the main riff of "Wake Up". One of the most fun songs is probably "Claiming Certainty", which sounds straight out of an old school thrash album in every way. The bass rattles in the back, while the guitar just shreds like there's no tomorrow. This song is not without a monstrous groove though, and like the rest it is absolutely teeth-crunching.

Pete Webber joins the ranks of Dave Lombardo and Gene Hoglan as a master of thrash drummers. There's the thumping double-bass, but it's sometimes mixed with the syncopation of funk to make it fit with the funky basslines. "F.P.C." probably shows this best, but there is no shortage of punishing drum fills. Returning to "Ingsoc", the drum syncopation is insane, and the rest of the drumming pounds into your head like a jackhammer. "Claiming Certainty" blasts the listener of their seat, and into the abundance of double-kick wizardry which is spell-binding. Just take a listen to the bridge, and try not to bang your head the the groove created by the excellent cymbal use.

Vocalist/rhythm guitarist David Sanchez sounds like a cross between Death Angel's Mark Osegueda and Dave Mustaine, nailing both primal screams and pissed-as-hell snarls. He gives one of the best vocal performances I've ever heard, and just spits pure anger and fury. He screams with so much conviction, that you can't do anything but either scream along or shut up and listen. Meanwhile, his snarls are the perfect sardonic Peace Sells-esque sneers. There's a lot to be angry and cynical about, and the lyrics are needed now more than ever. In a world where politics are like a big unfunny joke, Havok calls it all out. "F.P.C." attacks the growing issue of censorship and the effects of P.C. culture on society, and nails it beautifully. "Intention to Deceive" is a long-overdue rant on the blatant agenda-pushing of the mainstream news, where facts don't seem to matter as stated with "Never mind what the facts are. I made a story that needs to sell, journalism is an afterthought." "Dogmaniacal" takes on religious extremism, while "Hang 'em High" and "Ingsoc" tackles all of the inner political corruption.

Conformicide is really, in every way, a modern classic of thrash metal. The musicianship is all-around mind-blowing, and the production is piercing and razor-sharp. It's probably the closest I've heard for a modern thrash album sounding like the production on the classic late 80's and early 90's thrash albums. While Havok's always delivered killer albums, Conformicide sees the band come into their own sound. This is an album that really only sounds like Havok, and no one else. Along with Overkill's The Grinding Wheel, this is the best album you'll find in 2017. Hope you found this review helpful, feel free to comment!

Warthur Thrash bands of the 1980s weren't averse to social commentary; some have never veered away from it, though some have politically drifted away from where they started out. (Remember the Republican-baiting Megadeth of the Rust In Peace era?) Havok's Conformicide seems, lyrically, to be an attempt to do the same, though since the lyrics are cringe-inducing that's kind of a problem. Opening song FPC rants about political correctness in terms which I've typically only seen from grumpy libertarian teenagers on Reddit and the more rabid parts of the right-wing tabloid press in the UK who like to claim to be anti-authoritarian but never seem to notice the authoritarianism of their own political fellow-travellers.

(Heck, there's even a song based on Orwell's 1984, a novel so exhaustively riffed on by hands over the years that it's become about as much of a cliche as Lord of the Rings, and Havok certainly don't have an especially interesting new take on it.)

Sometimes political viewpoints you disagree with in music can be happily ignored if the music is good enough, but unfortunately in this case the lyrics are the most notable features of the album, the music being rather generic thrash given a somewhat sterile production. Given that we already have one Dave Mustaine, I'm not convinced we need more alt-right thrash metal artists yelling their opinions at us.

J-Man Hailing from the “mile-high” city of Denver, Colorado is Havok, a thrash metal act that has existed for less than a decade, but already has quite a legion of fans praising them as one of the States' best modern thrash exports. Largely thanks to Candlelight Records signing the band for the release of their debut LP in 2009, Havok has had the opportunity to share their music with most of the thrash metal community, and as one would expect, their classic approach to the genre has resonated with plenty of listeners. With 2013's Unnatural Selection, Havok hasn't made any major changes to their sound, but they've offered a slice of thrash metal solid enough to have your head banging for weeks!

Like most of Havok's other material, Unnatural Selection sounds like an updated version of classic Megadeth, Exodus, and Testament - although the production takes advantage of modern technology, the music here is old school to the bone and fans of thrash metal from the eighties' will feel right at home with Unnatural Selection. I suppose that Havok hasn't done a whole lot to set themselves apart from the pack this time around, but the top-notch musicianship and generally excellent songwriting (the first trio of songs is especially killer!) has kept Unnatural Selection in my musical rotation. If you've been sleeping on this band, it's time to lend an ear!

Phonebook Eater 6/10

"Time Is Up" is most definitely one to check out.

Havok is an American Thrash Metal band that has been until this moment pretty obscure. 2011 seems like a good year for discovering new bands and albums, and Havok's "Time Is Up" is most definitely one to check out.

Since “Time Is Up” is most definitely and old school Thrash record, people have been making a lot of comparisons as well as complaints for being a little too nostalgic and bringing up in an excessive way the classic Thrash bands from the 80’s and 90’s. As far as the comparisons go, the most notable influence is Megadeth, particularly the Rust In Peace era. However, David Sanchez’s vocals are nothing like Dave Mustaine’s; a lot more dirty, rough and lot of yelling, kind of like Kreator’s Millie Petrozza. The production is one of the best and cleanest I’ve heard this year so far; despite that, the bass sounds and the guitars are very thrashy and crunchy, so don’t panic if I say it’s clean production. But I don’t agree about the nostalgia and revivalism complaints; despite the music is highly influenced, it sounds a lot like a modern and 2011 album, without being retro-metal or vintage.

The album has ten songs, wrapped up in forty minutes; The songs have pretty much the same mood, and there isn’t much variety between the songs. Those few ideas on the other hand mostly work, creating a great and fun listen for a metalhead (Yep, head banging guaranteed!). Highlights for me were almost all the songs from the second half of the album, like “Killing Tendencies”, “the Cleric”, or “Scumbag In Disguise”. But the first half of the album didn’t do much for me, in fact at half way I thought that I wasn’t going to like the album. But, like I said, the second half compensates.

A good album overall, not the best out there in metal, but if you’re a Thrash fan you’ll most definitely love this, and put it in you’re albums of the year lists.

Stephen Havok was formed in 2004 and a part of thrash revival new generation alongside with names such as Warbringer, Evile, and Gama Bomb. Not to be confused with Sweden's Havok which played death metal, this Denver quartet is unleashing Bay Area style thrash in the veins of of classic Metallica, Testament, Exodus, and Anthrax. They were around for sometimes before finally got signed by Candlelight Record and "Burn" eventually released in 2009.

After the typical thrash intro, "Wreckquiem", Havok throw some old-school riffs carnage in "The Root of Evil" which reminds me of Metallica's Puppet era blending with the glorious early days of Testament. "To Hell" and "Afterburner" got the same classic grips, fierce and brutally beautiful. "Morbid Symmetry", like a flaming inferno balls shot straight out of hell, this one is a huge drum blasting track and make a strong headbang tune. "Scabs of Trust" was quickly added to the string of my fave tracks with its Sepultura's Beneath The Remains' wickedness, and to hear Sanchez's vocal alternating between a normal scream and furious growl, is surely a breathtaking moment. Though I'm sensing that few other tracks here seems incomplete and unoriginal, Havok succesfully delivered a satisfactory debut.

Just like Metallica, Kreator,or Testament, all of them started at the very young of age, and Havok isn't different than them. With this level of achievement, the band got a bright future ahead, let's just hope they can evolve to a better stage by keeping up the speed of improvement and consistency. Should they do that, I'm sure their next release will be in much greater shape, but for now, 3.5 stars is good for their endeavor.