ARTILLERY — Penalty By Perception (review)

ARTILLERY — Penalty By Perception album cover

Album · 2016 · Thrash Metal

4.5/5 · 2016-03-28
adg211288

I went into Penalty by Perception (2016), the eighth full-length album by Danish thrash metal act Artillery, without any real expectations about it. They weren't a band I'd heard too much by before, just By Inheritance (1990), which I think is a great album and their previous offering Legions (2013), which at the time I found enjoyable if somewhat unremarkable. Eleven tracks and about 54 minutes later I came out with a revised opinion about Artillery: this was a band I needed to listen to a lot more, the band having just delivered one of the most powerful thrash metal albums I've heard in a long time.

Coupling fast aggressive thrash riffing with a melodic sensibility and catchy style of songwriting that very nearly turns it into a power metal album, Penalty by Perception is an instant deliverer, bringing not a single weaker track to the table. They'll hook you in with In Defiance of Conformity and won't let go until the album closes with Welcome to the Mindfactory. Vocalist Michael Bastholm Dahl, introduced on Legions to replace Søren Adamsen, is one hell of a singer for this type of music. I like that he really does sing rather than resort to the shouty vocal styles prevalent in other thrash metal bands. I think that's what makes this one kick all the more arse. This is thrash metal done with class and maturity.

The band deliver killer track after killer track and then throw in what must be the most unexpected track on the record, When the Magic Is Gone, which is an acoustic led ballad. I don't often enjoy ballads even on power metal albums so in a thrash context they're not something I'd usually want to hear, except that this one is really tastefully done. A great way to break up the record before Artillery get back to business as usual with Cosmic Brain. Most of these songs are just that – business as usual – but man do Artillery have a winning formula on Penalty by Perception. Style wise it isn't actually all that different to Legions, just done better in every possible way, more polished in the production department and stronger songwriting across the board. I know that old school fans will likely disagree but I even prefer Penalty by Perception to By Inheritance.

I'm confident that this has to be one of the best thrash metal albums of 2016 – there's a few upcoming releases I have high hopes for and with Penalty by Perception Artillery have just made sure that they all have their work cut out for them. This is the one to beat.

more than 2 years ago
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siLLy puPPy wrote:

more than 2 years ago

You know what. I'm all for buying legit copies but when an album that i really, really want like Artillery's just doesn't get reprinted i'm actually wishing someone would make a pirated copy so i could have one. Luckily Gorguts finally released Obscura again. This is a big time problem in prog rock because so many albums from the early days are so hard to get the rights to.

TheHeavyMetalCat wrote:

more than 2 years ago

Listened to it. Best Artillery album since at least 2009's When Death Comes, maybe more. Probably won't listen again until my CD comes (which hopefully will be tomorrow) but right now there's every chance I will come to see this as their 2nd best. Not anything with pass By Inheritance though!

TheHeavyMetalCat wrote:

more than 2 years ago

Sounds fair enough. I never had any direct contact with the seller of my Paradox CD. Just won the auction, paid and got it delivered within the expected time frame. As I said, it's a bit late to do anything about it now anyway. Had it far too long. Not sure ebay will even still have a record of the purchase on my account.

adg211288 wrote:

more than 2 years ago

I decided not to. I believe the seller was genuine and I didn't want to get him in trouble, not after how helpful he'd been. If I'd paid more I may have but he sold me five albums for under £20 including the two hardest to find Grave Digger albums which were legit copies, so I was happy with my purchase.

TheHeavyMetalCat wrote:

more than 2 years ago

Thanks. It's excellent so far. Did you do anything about those CDs?

adg211288 wrote:

more than 2 years ago

Oh and enjoy the album!

adg211288 wrote:

more than 2 years ago

You're not alone, I've got caught out on ebay before now with bootlegs. On both CD's and DVD's actually. I got a deal on a job lot of Grave Digger albums a while back but when they arrived three were bootlegs on the rather infamous Monsters of Rock Records label. I was shocked as the seller was incredibly friendly and helpful and even let me swap a few of the CDs in the job lot I bought around as he had more he hadn't put up for sale and I already had some in the original listing. I think in that case he just didn't know what he was selling weren't legit.

TheHeavyMetalCat wrote:

more than 2 years ago

You know what I was going to wait until my CD comes to listen to this one in full but I think I'm going to stream it now. Hopefully it cheers me up after finding out about my Paradox CD being a fake.

TheHeavyMetalCat wrote:

more than 2 years ago

Well it seems I've been conned. The only comfort I'm taking from this is that the band/label aren't actually making it easy to legitmately get that album. You can't even purchase a legal mp3 version from what I can see.

adg211288 wrote:

more than 2 years ago

Discogs. They're pretty good in letting people know which versions of a release are legit and which aren't.

https://www.discogs.com/Paradox-Heresy/master/352997

TheHeavyMetalCat wrote:

more than 2 years ago

Shit, that's exactly the number it does have. What's your source for this information by the way?

adg211288 wrote:

more than 2 years ago

Though I did just look and if it has the serial number RO 9506 2 on it it's a bootleg.

adg211288 wrote:

more than 2 years ago

Sorry, didn't mean to scaremonger. Just a personal suspicion. Telling a pirate depends on the album, some are pretty well made and not at all obvious. If it looks right and plays fine I wouldn't worry too much about it.

TheHeavyMetalCat wrote:

more than 2 years ago

Shit, I probably bought one of those.

How do you tell if a CD is a pirate or not? Too late to do anything about it now if it is, but I would like to know.

adg211288 wrote:

more than 2 years ago

I was seeing the same ebay seller continually list copies of Heresy which sell for quite low prices (especially compared to Amazon sellers) at one point but given how hard the album usually is to get I've always been suspicious about whether those copies were genuine, especially since the photo used for the listing, though not a stock photo, was actually a direct copy of another seller's much higher priced listing.

TheHeavyMetalCat wrote:

more than 2 years ago

Really? I actually have that one. Got it quite cheap off of ebay.

adg211288 wrote:

more than 2 years ago

There's a lot of albums like that unfortunately. I've managed to get a hold of most of them now but all of Running Wild's classic period was a challenge to find. Another well regarded thrash album that seems to be out of print and command high prices is Paradox's Heresy.

TheHeavyMetalCat wrote:

more than 2 years ago

I'm expecting my copy in the post any day now. I'm quite a big fan of these guys. Last two albums were merely decent for me but got high hopes for this one. I've seen the video for Live by the Scythe and loved that song.

@siLLy puPPy, yeah it's absolutely crimimal the way a classic like By Inheritence is allowed to go out of print. Can't find a proper copy either at normal prices.

Unitron wrote:

more than 2 years ago

Gave it a listen, and it's one hell of a great album. Might actually be my favorite of the year so far.

siLLy puPPy wrote:

more than 2 years ago

I love the couple Artillery albums i've heard so great news that this is so strong. I've been wanting to get By Inheritence but it seems it's out of print and ridiculously expensive at the moment. Anxiously awaiting a reprint of some kind

Nightfly wrote:

more than 2 years ago

Looking forward to getting this one. Sounds like my high expectations are justified by your great review.

adg211288 wrote:

more than 2 years ago

I should really look up their other albums. I've had B.A.C.K. saved in my Spotify for ages. Unfortunately all the other albums I haven't heard aren't on there.

Unitron wrote:

more than 2 years ago

Great review, I still need to listen to this one. I really enjoy the power-thrash sound that Artillery has had on their recent few albums.