ALBUM REVIEW: From The Ashes of Eden – X-Tinxion
From The Ashes of Eden is the first full-length album from Dutch thrash metal band, X-TINXION. Female-fronted thrash bands are far and few in between in the genre, what with it being so male dominated. With vocalist Monica at the helm, will the band be able to truly hold their sound in a genre so wildly loved with their first full length output?
When From The Ashes of Eden opens up with intro track Amalgation, it is hard to decipher what is going on. The sound in itself goes from hard, rough vocals to clean bellows and almost a MEGADETH-esque sound in some places guitar and drum-wise but for a kick-starter on a first album, it isn’t as strong as hoped and doesn’t really jump out at what should be expected from a thrash album or band. As the album continues however, more thrash vibes transfer through and the sound starts to solidify itself.
Survivors of Hell has a very old-school sound of thrash and speed metal infused together, the sound overall sounds as though it has come straight of the ‘80s with a bit of a modern mix with the jump between growls and cleans on vocals. The thrash sound once again falls through when the album reaches Genetic Sickness, musically it is there but vocally there is too much of a constant shift in styles to be able to really know what is going on with the song itself.
Mixing clean vocals and harsh growls in the thrash metal genre can be a pretty tricky task and is very rarely done, and there should be some praise there for how dedicated X-TINXION have been with trying on From The Ashes of Eden, but it doesn’t work as well as perhaps the band had hoped. In many places the shifting between both can be messy and it almost feels as though you’re jumping to and from ARCH ENEMY and HUNTRESS albums, a very different mix and unfortunately, it hasn’t been pulled off. When Monica is approaching the album with a more guttural approach it really compliments the music and you can identify the genre reasonably easy however.
Vocals aside, tracks such as Uniformity and Civilised however are what has made this album something that makes it stand out in a genre that is becoming more popular once again after its time in the underground. Guitar wise on the album, it is immaculate and so tight, especially with the solos, it has everything in it that a thrash album needs, speed and intensity.
Overall From The Ashes of Eden is a 50/50 album, whilst it has the grounds for being good, it also has some foundational problems that need addressing in order to really make X-TINXION stand out in the crowd. One of the biggest concerns is what direction the vocals are currently at, there needs to be a form of stability there in order to really make the sound push as far as it can go, as currently the vocals aren’t strong and can make you feel as though you are listening to more than one song at a time. With a little bit more direction, From The Ashes of Eden has the potential but without that, it is sadly just mediocre to say the least and not something that should be putting X-TINXION on the map of being a strong thrash band.
Rating: 4/10
From the Ashes of Eden is out June 10
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