Growing up in the world metal as I did in the 90’s, I never had the opportunity to get exposed to melodic death metal or many of the bands from Europe and Sweden. Perhaps if I did, I probably would’ve been hooked on melodic death metal much earlier, and it would’ve had a much deeper impact on my life. Although I was fortunate to have “Heartwork” by CARCASS in ‘98, and I wore that CD out!
I don’t know what it is with Norway, but some of those former black metal players seem to hit the nail on the head when they decide to try something new, but still extreme. Just look at CHTON, BLOOD RED THRONE and ZYKLON. You can add TME to that list of current and former black metallers trying their hand at something new, without lightening up.
TME of have chosen a path rarely, if ever tried by Norwegian bands, which is melodic death metal. They sound as if they could be from Sweden, yet there’s something different underlying in their music that’s very subtle. Many of the melodies contained within the guitar work are spliced in with thrash, as well as a significant amount of blast beats with a little bit of death metal thrown in. The part I have to mention above all is the guitar solos, because when this band feels the need to do a lead, they steal from the best parts of “Black” album era Kirk Hammet!
“Worlds Collide” is certainly a fun-filled romp through the world of thrashy melodic death metal. There’s a few hooks hidden in the songs, but strangely the thing that takes center stage are those guitar solos. When given a decent amount of time, there’s a chance for development, unfortunately not all the songs have solos, and most of them are short.
For a first album, this is a great start, but I can’t help feel that a little bit of sharpening could help. I hope that the next time out, TME tightens themselves up a hint, records the drums better, and I hope they put a lot more focus on those guitar solos. Many bands these days tend to keep the leads short and tasteful, but I feel like TME is one band where huge solos could be an integral part of their signature sound.
7/10
