UMUR "A Time of Crisis" is the 2nd full-length studio album by US thrash/power metal act Heretic. The album was released through Metal on Metal Records in July 2012. Heretic was formed as far back as in 1985. They released the "Torture Knows No Boundary aka Don't Turn Your Back" EP in 1986 and their debut full-length studio album "Breaking Point" in 1988 before disbanding. Therefore "A Time of Crisis" is not only a comeback album it´s also the band´s first studio release in 24 years.

The music on the album is thrash metal with US power metal elements. The latter style is mostly heard in the semi-melodic choruses. Other than that, the riffing style, drumming and vocal style are firmly placed in thrash metal. That is, Thrash metal in the technically well played Bay Area style. Testament comes to mind, but it´s actually Artillery I´m reminded of the most.

The sound production is powerful and edgy, bringing out the best in the music. "A Time of Crisis" is bookended by two short instrumentals, but other than those two tracks, we´re more or less treated to one aggressive thrash metal tune after another. While the variation could have been better and the tracks could have prospered from being more memorable, this is still quality music through and through.

"A Time of Crisis" is the proof that Heretic have been missed and that they might still have a career ahead of them despite being "late to the game" with their sophomore album. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

adg211288 A Time of Crisis is the second full-length album by US thrash metal act Heretic. The album was released in 2012. Heretic number amongst a host of bands that have been releasing albums within the last couple of years that were originally about in the eighties, only to break up after a relatively small number of releases. In Heretic’s case their original career saw them release an EP, Torture Knows No Boundary (1986) and their debut full-length, Breaking Point (1988). A Time of Crisis features an almost entirely different line-up to that prior album, with only guitarist Brian Korban performing on both releases, although A Time of Crisis does also see the return of vocalist Julian Mendez who performed on the EP.

Although Heretic are described as a power-thrash band, their music is most firmly rooted in the thrash metal genre, although I also hear plenty of slower paced elements that put me in mind of traditional heavy metal. It’s a nice mix that is about in balance with each other which resulted in a very focused release from the band. Thrash metal has never typically been my thing, although of late I’ve started to find a new appreciation for the genre with the recent releases from artists such as Teramaze and Prototype. Heretic is another band that I can add to my list of thrash bands doing something what I once would have considered unlikely to happen, making an album that that I can not only acknowledge as the work of a skilled and talented band, but also one that I can enjoy on a more personal level. An early track, Tomorrow's Plague, was all it took for me to get engrossed in the sound that Heretic has to offer.

There are twelve tracks on the album, bookended by a couple of shorter instrumental pieces that serve as an intro and outro respectively, although in this case the outro track, Let Me Begin Again, is actually a little bit longer than the band’s self-titled song, Heretic. Generally speaking though we’re talking average length and to the point thrash metal songs that clock in around the three-four minute mark, with only Remains passing five. It is a simple (by modern standards) but affective approach that allows Heretic to cram in their mix of thrash and classic metal riffs, topped off with fast lead guitar which is pretty dominate in the mix when they hit, and Julian Mendez’s raw, pure thrash style vocals. It’s not, admittedly, the most original take on thrash metal I’ve come across, but it is a damn good one all the same, with Tomorrow's Plague, A Time of Crisis and The End Of The World being counted among its best songs. A great album tier rating is deserved.

78/100

(Originally written for Heavy Metal Haven (http://metaltube.freeforums.org))