ALBUM REVIEW: Take Over and Destroy – Take Over and Destroy

Two years after the release of Vacant Space, TAKE OVER AND DESTROY have returned with their third full length studio album of the same name. The Arizona quartet have teamed up with Prosthetic Records for the new release, as, in their own words, they aim to “relentlessly push the boundaries of heavy music”. There are a number of elements that TAKE OVER AND DESTROY use in the new record from different sub-genres of heavy metal. In the ten tracks on the album, there are elements of thrash metal, hard rock, and there are also the lighter tones throughout which sound more melodic.

The opening track, By Knife, combines two of these elements almost straight away. The intro to the song is quite slow, building gradually up until the simple opening riff of Alex Bank Rollins. The song kicks in properly courtesy of Andrew Leemont’s vocals, which begins with the song title. The riff is relatively basic for most of the song, and is very similar to the riff from RAMMSTEIN’s Du Hast, only at a faster rate.

There are other tracks on the new album where the blends between sub-genres is more apparent than others, such as Out of Frame. The second longest song on the record, it starts off very slow and melodic, and there is much more singing which sets the theme for the track straight away. At the halfway point though, the drums of Jason Tomaszewski kick in and the pace picks up again, with the thrash elements becoming apparent once more.

The two best tracks on the album are also the last two – Bring Me the Rope and Night Work Begins. The first of the two takes the more hard rock approach, which if you didn’t know the band would say it sounds much alike FOO FIGHTERS in terms of the instruments, while the vocals is very similar to Alice Cooper.

The latter of the songs is very melodic, but also takes the hard rock elements off Bring Me the Rope. Compared to most of the other songs on this album, Night Work Begins is the sort of song you can put on in the background to relax, and on the whole is a very good song right the way through.

These two are the gems on what can only be described as an average album. There appears to be far too many elements crammed into one album, and blending of elements between songs which shouldn’t really be happening. On the technical side of things, TAKE OVER AND DESTROY are excellent at all of the elements individually, but when there is a crossover between songs it just doesn’t work as well as it potentially could.

It is hard to say who this album is aimed at due to the diversity of it – thrash fans will most likely love the opening few tracks, while those who prefer hard rock and are not as much into metal will struggle with it, up until the final two tracks.

On the whole, this has the potential to be a great album, but because the band have tried to mix in too many elements into just 10 songs, it brings the whole record down. Had they gone for an all thrash album, or an all hard rock with a couple of melodic tracks then it could have been so much better.

Rating: 5/10

Take Over and Destroy is set for release on October 7th via Prosthetic Records.

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