Review FLAMES ‘Resurgence’

Even though some of you may not have heard of Flames, the band is not new. It all started in 1984 when Chris Kirk founded the outfit. ‘Made in Hell, that’s the title of the debut album which was released in 1985, followed by five more longplayers. Even though the band never broke up, it started a very long period without any significant output from the Flames camp.

After more than two decades the guys from Athens, Greece are back with a new album. Resurgence’ is the name of the record which has a total of eleven songs to offer. Flames play thrash metal with roots in the 80s, which is not surprising considering the founding date. Cross-references to bands like Kreator and Sodom are certainly not to be denied. Nevertheless, Flames have enough originality on their new album to make the disc an interesting release for fans of oldschool thrash metal.

Highlights are certainly the groovy ‘Yourself Unknown’, as well as the furious title track, which also serves as the opener. The Greeks push the pedal to the metal with ‘Murder Taste’ and also the thundering ‘War in Mind’ can compete with other thrash metal acts.

Flames deliver with ‘Resurgence’ a great album, which one would not have expected from the Greeks. If you want to listen to well-made thrash metal without gimmicks, you shouldn’t miss this album.