Unlimited

Featuring band members from bands like Dimmu Borgir, Old Man’s Child and Black Comedy, all of which I can’t stand I didn’t have an ounce of expectation from the band especially when I read somewhere that the band wanted to “try” out the thrash metal genre. However seeing from the reviews stated on the site and most of them being rather good I went out of my path of utmost ignorance and decided to try it out. The band supposedly plays Thrash metal with Melodic Black Metal influences, which is not surprising because all the members here have gained repute by playing in well established modern day Black Metal bands.

What the band aimed for and what they achieved are miles apart. Instead of playing their desired Melodic Black\Thrash metal they have come out with nothing more Melodic Metal with near no signs of thrash metal and not even a hint of Black Metal. No aggressiveness, no shrieked vocals, no distorted guitars but instead, a rather anti climatic modern melodic metal furthermore ruined by the vocals.

The vocalist Athera sounds a lot and reminds me of Phil Anselmo, a person whose quality of vocals I utterly despise. Apart from this he sings in a very nu-metal (mainly like those of David Draiman of Disturbed) and rock influenced clean vocal way, which hurt the ears. Point to be noted. Thrash and Rock\Nu-Metal vocals do not mix.

The song structures are simple, amateurish and poor. Like in the track, “Devil May Care” which is supposedly the bands best work till date the song suddenly goes into a soft melodic section in the middle of the track. It was uncalled for and seemed way out of place. Poor song structuring and writing in fact make hearing more than a couple of tracks one after the other a rather monotonous and boring affair. The drum work is ordinary and childishly simple. The guitar work is mostly melodic. With little or no variation the album spirals even further downward. The lyrics are downright stupid and dumb. Let me show you some of the lyrics: -

“Have you come to deliver
a message from home
Or are you here to devour
what's left of me
have you come to deliver
a message from base
Or are you here to devour my secrecy” ~ Years Of Infinity

“Gimme just a second to change the rules
Gimme just a moment to turn it all around
Affiliation with the likes of others
makes my stomach turn
Closing in on my decision
to tear it down and let it burn
Gather up for mass destruction
In a way you've never seen” ~ Situational Awareness.

All the lyrics are of such gutter worthy quality and so delving further into the topic of lyrics is most unnecessary. If this wasn’t enough the nu-metal production pretty much kills and buries the effort.

The band actually had me interested after I heard the opening riff to the opening track, “Chemistry” but it was killed by what followed. This and the riff in Mind Apart are worth mentioning, and as for the rest, “Hello, Recycle Bin”.

A massive failure in every possible way, backed by poor song writing, monotonous songs and nu metal influenced vocals and production are this album. With the presence of everything that should not be in a release you cant expect a good rating now can you? If you still haven’t realized, ignore this.

Damn, this album kicked my ass all around. The urge to headbang was completely unavoidable. I gave this album the best title I could possibly give, because these guys were definitely drinking some strong ass Norwegian booze and/or beer when they wrote and rehearsed this album. As with Metallica, the consumption of large amounts of alcohol gave them a gift for metal.

On to the music! This one's got a pretty good intro, pretty simple high-note riff, but it suits the coming chaos well. The singer reminds me of Phil Anselmo from Pantera which is definitely cool because that kind of voice fits a fast-paced thrash/black metal band well. Tjoldalv(or however you spell his name) is on drums and I could care less if he played in the Dimmu Borgir because he does a kickass job. Effective double bass strings together most of the beats. I'm not sure who the other guys who play in Susperia are, as this is the first album I've bought from them, but they're fucking talented. The only problems I could point out with the first song were the lyrics and the way the Phil imitator delivers them and a guitar solo near the end that should have been louder. The lyrics are pretty shitty and jumbled about, but that's not really a big deal when you have good riffs and sufficient attitude.

The second song is arguably the best set of riffs on the album. They have good bass to back them up, they're heavy as all hell, and they're fast and rude. I had to down a six pack of beer just to feel right after listening to this song. Tjoldalv's drumming is especially awesome on this song especially during the heaviest riff near the beginning and at the very end. And here we have another guitar solo in the thrash tradition that's short but effective, given the fast pace.

The album slays on to the next song, starting off with a brief intro and another ultra-heavy thrash riff. Here we can see the black metal influence that Susperia has injected into their music. The best part is that is actually fits together very well with the palm-muted thrash riffs.

The rest of the songs on this album follow suit with the rest of the album, but are by no means boring. Track five's main riff is straight up black metal, which adds some extra flavor to this album. The album isn't even boring towards the end, adding even more variety to the firm black/thrash base with traditional heavy metal riffs and vocals, a little metalcore sounding material, and even some skull-splitting death metal-ish songs. Alot of bands fuck up combining genres but Susperia accomplishes it with skill.

Other than the lyrical issues on the first song, and a few other vocal moments I didn't like that much I really like "Unlimited". Heavy-as-fuck riffs, guitar squeals, solid drumming, and a great vocalist, it's all hear. I'll definitely be drinking to this album and telling my friends about it, and if you're reading this you should too!

In a thrash way of course. After a promising 'Vindication' 2002, I was hoping Susperia won't waste pretty good material and will follow the path which starts at typical blackish sound straight to thrash (not classic but modern of course).

What previous CDs lacked of mostly were solos. Now guitarists retrieved that mistake so that you can hear some really good solo work, maybe not as much as I would like to hear on this CD, but if you hear one you will admire Cyrus or Elvorn for their great skills. What is more these guys (along with Tjodlav) have this rare abillity to create good and memorable riffs ("Home Sweet Hell"!!!). Then there is this well produced and arranged drum work by Tjodalv, so that he can now be known not as ex-Dimmu drummer, because it would just be unfair. Tjodalv shows that he can make far more damage without using blasts!

I hear some accusations that Susperia sounds to much like Testament, and I don't see if it's wrong when Testament doesn't sound like itself at all. Some others say that Athera vocals are too much Billy-ish style. You can really say that, especially when it's about their voice timbre, but what I think more is that Susperia's vocalist can smoothly change from clear voice into harsh almost growl vocs and backwards, simply better than Billy does.

All in all this CD is a great continuation to a previus one and logical as well. Worth trying, especiallly for open minded metallers who haven't stuck in the late 80's and still can appreciate new way of playing old stuff.

To be honest with you punters, now that the hype has subsided, a couple of months on from the release of Exodus’ ‘Tempo’ album, its impact and worth can start to be measured a little more. For me, ‘Tempo’ is a good Exodus album – more Fabulous Disaster than Bonded by Blood and perhaps it wasn’t nasty enough - but nevertheless, it is solid effort. What has this got to do with Norway’s Susperia? Well, the best thing I got out of hearing ‘Tempo’ was yearnings for the glory days of that classic Bay Area thrash sound. There are lots of positives about the imminent Death Angel disc but only Testament and Overkill continue on in that vein. Question is, where are the new acts?

Yes, Yes we know that the scene and style died a death in the early 90’s, but in terms of a revival (The Haunted aside) Norwegian five-piece Susperia may have a rather large part to play. Susperia have been around for a few years now (having been put together by former Dimmu Borgir drummer Tjodalv) and whilst I have been impressed with their past two efforts, this new one, ‘Unlimited’, makes them look second rate.

With a Norwegian background under the guidance of Tjodalv, Susperia have, quite understandably been lumped in with the new lot of post-emperor symphonic black metal acts. Yet, their sound has always been a little more varied in my opinion. Their Scandinavian touch was always evident on their first two albums, but it was the more direct death metal and thrashy US metal influences that made me take a bit more notice of just what they were trying to do. 2002’s ‘Vindication’ was particularly refreshing in it’s non-typical ideas and a more experimental vocal direction.

With the arrival of ‘Unlimited’, Susperia (with a more prominent input from guitarist Cyrus) have gone for the jugular and produced a modern sounding thrash metal album that is quite unashamedly based upon the blueprint laid down by Testament.

Oh yes, Susperia LOOOVVEEE Testament. In fact that whole classic Bay Area thrash sound is all over this disc. But it is far from an old school rehash. Throw in elements of classic sounding Pantera and Machine Head, a fair dose of melody throughout and their own Scandinavian Black influences and you have a rather dynamic, powerful sounding and extremely convincing metal album.

The combination of style that they promised on their first two albums has been captured here like never before. With an increased emphasis on the thrash riff and Athera’s ‘Chuck Billy-like’ vocal performance, the ten tracks written here work seamlessly within each other. Yes, unlike ‘Vindication’ and 2001’s ‘Predominance’ this new album has a more compact style and sound – it flows much better and has simply stronger song writing. Highlights for me include the strong powerful opener of ‘Chemistry’ and the trio of tracks that run into each other – ‘Off the Grid, Years of Infinity’ and the brilliantly conceived ‘Home Sweet Hell’. As good as the thrash-vibe created here, it is the melody lines that make these compositions stand out the most. There is nothing saccharine about Susperia’s melody use – it has a killer catchiness yet the dynamics are powerfully delivered in every sense.

Always viewed as ‘The drummer from Dimmu Borgir’s band’, Susperia must be getting a little sick and tired with this marketing ploy. Former label Nuclear Blast used it in the beginning and new label Tabu (Norway) has done the same by adorning this disc with the same statement. Man, Tjodalv hasn’t been in Dimmu since 1998 or so. Tjodalv would be the first to agree that there is much more to his band than his prowess and links to other noteworthy bands. The excellent song writing from Cyrus and vocal performance from Athera alone should be enough to make Susperia much more inviting than name-dropping like influences.

Backed by a killer self-production and Fredman Studio and Subsonic Society Studios (Oslo, Norway) ‘Unlimited’ is a rich and powerful sounding metal album. Fans of pure ass kicking bay area thrash with a dark melodic Scandinavian touch will fall on their knees at the sound of this album.

Browsing around the internet I came across the band Susperia. Seeing that Tjoldv was their drummer and played in Dimmu Borgir during their best days, I thought that this band was going to be one of the better ones in my collection. The album art looks pretty cool, so I expected some heavy thrash/black metal riffs and some sort of screaming vocals. I was more or less right about the riffs...but when it came to the vocals I couldn't believe my ears. It sounded like something I'd hear on Ozzfest. Music like this should not remind me of Pantera. Not only is it vocally weak with a few failed attempts at growling, but it is lyrically shallow. Horrible, almost teenage lyrics. On the way to the store where I bought Unlimited I was listening to Emperor, which I consider to have the greatest lyrics ever.

Now, on to the music. This is a flawless production, it's clear and great sounding. The guitar melodies and harmonies are what make this CD worth downloading. The band would have been better off making this an instrumental album with no vocals. I had no doubts that Tjoldv would do great on drums, as I enjoyed his work in Dimmu Borgir. The first track, Chemistry, might have even done well with the intro playing through the entire song. It transitions from a melodic riff to a thrashy one with slap bass. At times the only image I could get of the bassist was of that Rob guy from Metallica. Musically, the whole album was a great success.

So, I somewhat regret purchasing Susperia's Unlimited. Excellent, almost godly guitarwork overshadowed with the Pantera/Metallica-like vocals that do not fit well with the production. If I wanted to think better of Susperia I would conclude that the "singer"s horrible voice was due to the fact that he lost his screaming voice. If you want to hear this album, download it first. It's not really worth your money.

This album is kicking my ass. I enjoyed Predominance and enjoyed Vindication even moreso, but this cd...wow. The first track Chemistry shows what a great riff can be. The opening riff is amazing, and then when the drums come in (as well as some backup rhythm guitar and bass) it shows that Tjodalv has not only improved on his incredible drumming, he has outdone himself. Athera's vocals are strong on this cd, and he too seems to have imporoved his techniques. All the songs stand out when you listen to Unlimited, which is good, and its hard to actually find a weak song on this album. But if you havent heard of Susperia at this point, I suggest you just give the first song Chemistry a listen, or the seventh song, Home Sweet Hell to get a good showcase of Athera's voice.

If you already are a fan of this band, check this cd out. I haven't quite listened to it enough times to say that its better than Vindication, but it comes damn close. This album has some of the strongest riffs Susperia has managed to come up with.