Game Over (It) - For Humanity

Artist: Game Over (It)
Release Title: For Humanity
Year 2012 (2015 re-issue)
Label: My Graveyard Productions (Scarlet Records re-issue)
Genre: Retro Thrash Metal
Tracklisting:
1. Abyss of a Needle
2. Dawn of the Dead
3. Mountains of Madness
4. War of Nations
5. Overgrill (El Grillador loco)
6. N.S.A.
7. Bleeding Green
8. Another Dose of Thrash
9. Evil Clutch
10. Tupa Tupa or Die

Re-issue tracklisting:
1. Abyss of a Needle
2. Dawn of the Dead
3. Mountains of Madness
4. War of Nations
5. Overgrill (El Grillador loco)
6. N.S.A.
7. Bleeding Green
8. Another Dose of Thrash
9. Evil Clutch
10. Tupa Tupa or Die
11. Iron Fist (Motörhead cover) (Live)
12. N.S.A/Nuke’em High (Live)
13. Another Dose of Thrash (Live)

Initially formed in 2008, Italian thrashers Game Over quickly formed an attraction to old-school thrash as well as a love for similarly old-school horror films which has been apart of their sound from the beginning. Finally able to get themselves together to the point of releasing their debut album, this was originally released January 16, 2012 on My Graveyard Productions before a reissue February 3, 2015 on new-label Scarlet Records.

In what will become obvious shortly, the band is quite obviously based around revivalist thrash metal which manages to ape the old-school sound quite effectively. Built through tight, charging riff-work full of ravenous, frenzied speed metal patterns that burst with energetic rhythms and enough of a frantic pace that there’s a blistering sense of energy at play here that really works incredibly well. The straightforward riffing approach featured here makes this even more enjoyable with their penchant for frenzied riff-work generating a thick, dense layer of rhythms here that’s so energetic and fiery it’s more than enough to whip into a thrashing holocaust based on how tight and straightforward these sections are. This is a great accomplishment for a band of this age and experience level, accurately aping that style of thrashing quite well, yet regardless of how tight the riffing is or how competently they pay homage to their chosen style it still has some minor flaws. The main issue is the fact that the album’s densely-layered riff-work tends to make this feel way too similar and one-note. There’s no variation in their riff-work at all here so their tight, densely-layered riffing becomes quite of a blur of overly-familiar thrashing for it’s duration and can be quite tiresome as there’s not much difference here throughout the album. Still, this one isn’t all that bad and manages to get a lot right here.

Though not really blessed with the most deviation throughout their attack which tends to really run the album into itself with quite familiar tracks featured here, it’s become such a part of their sound that it’s somewhat tolerable as the more engaging elements here make this one far more enjoyable for revivalist thrash fanatics or old-school thrashers.

Score: 90/100

Does it sound good? Order the reissue from here:
http://scarletrecords.bandcamp.com/album/for-humanity