No End in Sight – Black Clouds LP (Acuity Music)
This is the third album from Stuttgart, Germany headbanging machine No End In Sight. Although their roots lie in a blend of hardcore and metalcore sounds, this record is much more a celebration of all things metal, with the occasional nod to the \”good old days\”. From the word go, No End In Sight go for the throat with speed and power, blending modern thrash metal with blast parts and razor sharp guitar work. Technically this is right up there with the best bands in the genre as their experience shines through. There is plenty of variety, not only from song to song but within the tunes themselves, as the band flip from melodic metal soloing, to death-like blasts, to heads-down thrash, mixing tempos as they go along. But this is no exercise in math-metal, you don\’t need to get your calculator out to figure where these boys are going, just grab your air guitar and thrash along. Where this band stands apart for me is the thought they have put into their lyrics, and the message they share. With a strong animal rights, anti-homophobic, anti-racist approach, here you can see the band\’s hardcore roots shine through and the \”more than music\” mentality shines through. The music, the message, it all strikes a chord with me. Tom Chapman