Warthur Combining a technically proficient thrash metal musical foundation with vocal delivery and a few riffs harking back to the golden age of the NWOBHM, it's mildly surprising to me that Artillery's By Inheritance doesn't have a higher profile, since it seems to me like an album with appeal for both thrash fans and followers of earlier metal styles. With Flemming Rønsdorf's vocals drawing on the styles of the likes of Bruce Dickinson, Michael Kiske, and perhaps a dab of Rob Halford, and the brothers Stützer providing a twin lead guitar approach reminiscent of Judas Priest and Iron Maiden whilst cooking up riffs worthy of Megadeth and Metallica, there's plenty for all metal fans to love here.

UMUR "By Inheritance" is the 3rd full-length studio album by Danish thrash metal act Artillery. The album was released through Roadrunner/Roadracer Records in May 1990. The album was produced, engineered and mixed by B>Flemming Rasmussen (Metallica, Blind Guardian, Morbid Angel...etc) at Sweet Silence Studios in Copenhagen, Denmark in the early months of 1990.

The album features 1 instrumental intro, 8 "regular" original tracks and a cover version of "Razamanaz" by Nazareth. The music style on the album is melodic thrash metal with the occasional nod towards US power metal. It´s been three years since the release of the band´s last album "Terror Squad (1987)" and there´s been quite a development in sound since that album. The music style on "Terror Squad (1987)" was raw and old school yet technically well played thrash metal, while the music style on "By Inheritance" is a much more sophisticated yet still powerful type of thrash metal. The band have developed a flair for melody, melodic guitar soloing/guitar themes that are quite impressive.

The instrumental part of the music is very well played. Tight and fast riffing and a powerful rhythm section. It should be noticed here that Morten Stützer has taken up guitar duties on this album instead of playing bass and new bassist is Peter Thorslund. In addition to the excellent instrumental musicianship the vocals by Flemming Rønsdorf are the icing on the cake. Now that´s what I call a great frontman. He has got a strong and rusty kind of voice and while he is certainly able to deliver some really raw thrashy vocals, there´s always a rare melodic sensibility to his vocal parts. He is even capable of delivering more subtle and sensitive vocals in a track like "Don't Believe". Tracks like "Beneath the Clay (R.I.P.)", the title track and "Back in the Trash" are simply killer thrash metal of the more sophisticated kind. You won´t hear something like this very often.

The sound production is perfect for the music. A bit dry but powerful and raw. "By Inheritance" is one of the best known thrash metal albums to ever come out of Denmark and listening to the album it´s obvious to hear why. The band really strike a great balance between the raw and thrashy and the more melodic US power metal style that´s actually pretty rare and not necessarily an easy achivement either. While Artillery are more a thrash metal band than Sanctuary were, I think fans of "Into the Mirror Black (1990)" would really enjoy "By Inheritance" too. That´s one of the albums I think of when I listen to "By Inheritance" (just to make a reference that some people might know). A 4.5 star (90%) rating is deserved.

Time Signature Back in the thrash...

Genre: (technical) thrash metal

This is onne of my favorite thrash albums of all times, and I remember listening to it on my walkman while bicycling to school every day for several months when I was a kid.

"By Inheritance" manages to capture influences from the thrash scene of the late 80s in both Europe and America, blending in elements from, for instance, Megadeth, Metallica, Kreator, Anthrax, and Sodom into their own, quite original style of technical thrash metal. I know that some people consider it the weakest of the "real" Artillery albums because of its clean and crisp production compared to the rawness of "Fear of Tomorrow" and "Terror Squad", but I really like the crips production, because it allows you to hear all the musical details. The uptempo songs mostly blast their way to your primal id in a flurry of aggressive and complex riffs, while the mid tempo and ballady ones add some melody and melancholy to the experience.

The vocals are sick in the good way, adding originality to the album. Really, noone in the thrash genre sings like that.

Fans of old school thrash metal and technical thrash metal should like this, and I think that younger fanst of thrash metal and modern thrash-derived genres should be able to appreciate it, too.