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! ! ! ! !
Artist......: Algebra
Album.......: Feed the Ego
Year........: 2014
Genre.......: Thrash Metal
Type........: Album
Label.......: Unspeakable Axe Records
Language....: English
Source......: WEB/FLAC (16bit)
Quality.....: 1023kbps / 44.1 kHz / Stereo
Tracks......: 9 tracks
Playtime....: 00:44:41
Size........: 327.0 MiB
R.Date......: 2026-07-01
S.Date......: 2014-09-02
Url.........: https://open.qobuz.com/album/qn5r6xg4j20ia
01. Survival Nowadays 4:04
02. Prisoner Outdoors 4:54
03. Necessary Evil 4:09
04. My Shelf 4:34
05. Profound Guilt 5:12
06. Feed Me More 5:41
07. Egosystem 6:22
08. The Fort Broke 3:54
09. Monotask 5:52
Well, once again Unspeakable Axe Records have knocked
another one out of the park! This time it is
Switzerland's Algebra and their new album entitled "Feed
The Ego". This one is going to open up a lot of eyes and
minds and leave you wondering just how long it will be
before they take the crown of thrash metal. However, due
to a distributor issue, the official release date on
this album is slated for the middle of September. Even
so, trust me, it will most definitely be worth the wait.
When this cd first starts, he initial riffs, although
played with a death metal like precision, are most
definitely influenced by Metallica. I would say like a
mixture reminiscent of the "Ride the Lightning" and "And
Justice for All" albums. Not too polished and not too
clean, the riffs find a nice middle ground that
compliment the over-all song construction. There are
also influences in there from bands like Cyclone, Faith
or Fear, and most definitely Sepultura from around the
"Arise" era. It is not too far-fetched to say that the
riffs on this album sound like Dark Angel got together
and tried to play Slayer's "South of Heaven" using the
technical ability found on Forbidden's "Twisted Into
form". Does this sound chaotic and all over the place"
Good, because that is what Algebra is, chaos that is
here and there and everywhere at once, enveloping you in
a glorifying sound of thrashing greatness that has not
been heard since the late 80's and early 90's. The solo
work on this album is most definitely classically
inspired more so than thrash, but they incorporate this
particular style in places where it is most effective.
You certainly wouldn't want a classically inspired solo
in the middle of thundering thrash riffs. No, instead
they use the classical solo style in the slower, deeper
sections of these songs to maximize the aura and feeling
of the overall tune. Not to worry though, a more gritty
solo style is also used in appropriate fashion when it
is called for.
The drums on this release are predominantly thrash
inspired, yes, but there are also elements of classic
heavy metal and a slight influence of death metal as
well. When you listen to this album, you can really tell
the drummer is enjoying himself by displaying the pride
of his craft with absolute precision. The double bass
sound really nice on these tracks where applicable. It's
not insanely fast and it doesn't need to be. No doubt he
could rival the likes of, for example, Gene Hoglan, but
in my point of view homage is better than emulation in
this situation. I have absolutely no complaints here but
in listening to this album multiple times, I really wish
the drummer would have had a solo track to showcase his
talents of sonic obliteration. Perhaps on the next album
there will be a track like this. Regardless, you cannot
mess with perfection! The bass is more noticeable in
some parts than others and no doubt this is due to the
song construction itself. On the parts where it is more
noticeable, you can tell and it almost feels as if the
guitar riffs are riding then flowing right off of the
bass lines. One doesn't necessarily carry the other, but
the complimenting style cements the fluency of this
album.
The vocals on "Feed the Ego" are influenced by the likes
of Dark Angel, Faith or Fear, and dare I say early
Voivod, and those are just the thrash vocal patterns.
Where needed, the band also incorporate clean singing in
the vein of Opeth and Katatonia, with a slight Paradise
Lost variation for good measure. The vocalist definitely
has a good set of lungs on him. There is no doubt in my
mind he could sing even more powerful than he did on
this album, but like I said you can't mess with
perfection. That's just what "Feed the Ego" is,
perfection! When you take each element and interlock it
with the other, the result is an album that will be
memoriable to even the most sophisticated of metal fans.
There is no need to find the variable of X or Y. Even
the order of operations does not apply here. Algebra has
already done the math for you and each track results in
a correct answer every time. All you need to do is put
this cd in your stereo, turn the volume up and enjoy an
album that no band in the world of modern thrash metal
can come close to. Algebra are yet another classy and
respectable band on the Unspeakable Axe record label
that take absolute pride and precision into their work
and deliver nothing less than the same at the end of the
day.