Eleventh Hour are back with their latest demo! Since 2005, Eleventh Hour have climbed the Pakistani metal ranks and now are one of the best metal bands in the entire country. While most of their peers in Islamabad/Rawalpindi have suddenly disappeared off the map, Eleventh Hour are still delivering high quality material. This latest demo, released on Eid (a cultural holiday in Pakistan and other Islamic countries), is a slight change from their previous demo, 'Lunging Snakes' (2007). 'Lunging Snakes' consisted of three tracks: 'Quarry', 'The Season's End' and 'Lunging Snakes'. The defining features of their previous demo CD was the breakneck tempo, lengthy songs and galloping guitars reminiscent of Megadeth's first two albums. There was a bit of classic heavy metal flair in it too, with the middle sections of 'Quarry' and 'The Season's End'. 'Time for Murder' takes a different musical direction.
First of all, lets take a look at the cast. The line up is almost the same as 'Lunging Snakes' but with a difference. Their lead guitarist on the 'Lunging Snakes' demo, Ammar Tareen isn't involved, and is replaced with Jonathan Jones. Jonathan's guitar style is much different from Ammar's. Ammar had a NWOBHM/speed metal style of playing, and the best example of that is his lead work on 'The Season's End'. Jonathan, however, seems to be more influenced by the harsher side of thrash metal. His solos are best described as a mix of Dave Mustaine and Kerry King. Strange, huh? King and Mustaine both have contrasting styles. King's style is fast, sloppy and brain rattling. Mustaine's solos are more... intelligent so to speak. Jonathan's style, as I said before, is a mix of the two people. His solos are brutal and crazy, but he manages to bring some style into his solos, a strange type of finesse that is usually associated with Dave Mustaine's guitar work. An interesting side note, Jonathan Jones produced both the songs on this demo, which shows his influence goes beyond his guitar.
Now, the two songs on this demo are like complete polar opposites. Perhaps the only thing common in these two songs are the great solos and the socially and politically aware lyrics. 'Time for Murder' is a fast, brutal, thrasher and is Eleventh Hour's fastest and most aggressive song to date. Zia's lyrics revolve around suicide bombings, greedy politicians and innocent civilians and policemen dying. Zia shouts at the top of his lungs, and you can literally feel the anger pulsing through his veins and oozing out of your speakers/headphones. The riffs are sharp, but not exactly clear. The mixing job is done a little strangely, but in the end it comes out in a good way. The band wanted to make their rawest song yet, and they did it. The drum programming is, as always, top notch and at times you feel as if the drums were recorded in a professional studio. The main highlight of this song, other than the hate filled vocals and the fine drumming, is Jonathan's stellar guitar solo. Its crazy, its brutal at times, and at the same time, it retains a sense of melody.
The other song, entitled 'The Rusted Chain', is a half-thrash song. That said, it is still better than most half-thrash songs. The song follows a basic heavy metal structure with nice catchy riffs. This is probably Eleventh Hour's best produced song. The vocals are superb, and match the catchy riffage well. The drum programming isn't too special, but serves the purpose. There isn't much to say about this song, except that it kicks some major ass, which is rare for a metal song that leans more towards the groove metal side of the spectrum. Look out for the kickass solo near the end.
Eleventh Hour further solidify and cement their place in the Pakistani metal history books with their latest effort. It would be interesting to see which direction the band take after this demo. I personally hope that they make music similar to the title track of this demo, 'Time for Murder', instead of the groove/thrash direction of 'The Rusted Chain'. But I'm sure the band will not disappoint their fans no matter what direction they take.
Reviewed by MegaHassan
11/01/2008 09:38
