UMUR
"Read Your Enemy" is the 3rd full-length studio album by Swedish thrash metal act Kayser. The album was released through Listenable Records in February 2014. It´s been quite a few years since the release of "Frame the World...Hang It on the Wall (2006)" and I was beginning to wonder, if we would ever hear anything from Kayser again. Apparently they´ve signed a longterm deal with Listenable Records though, so "Read Your Enemy" is pretty surely just the first in a longer line of new releases by the band.
8 years recording break or not, the music on "Read Your Enemy" is unmistakably the sound of Kayser. That means a thrash metal style that features quite a few traditional heavy metal elements and well as melody. A track like "Almost Home" even visit stoner metal territory and I´m reminded of Trouble post 1990. They shine quite a bit on that track, and it´s definitely one of the standout tracks on the album. The rest of the material are pretty strong too, but it´s seldom my blood really boils.
The musicianship are on a high level and especially lead vocalist Christian "Spice" Sjöstrand means a lot to the band´s sound. He has the ability to deliver both raw thrashy type vocals and more melodic tinged (yet still raw) vocals. The sound production is powerful and organic, which suits the music well. Upon conclusion "Read Your Enemy" is another quality offering by Kayser. The tracks could generally have been a bit more memorable, but there are enough strong and catchy tracks on the album to warrant a 3.5 star (70%) rating.