UMUR "Penalty By Perception" is the 8th full-length studio album by Danish thrash metal act Artillery. The album was released through Metal Blade Records in March 2016. "Penalty By Perception" features the same lineup who recorded "Legions (2013)", making the album the second release to feature the performances of lead vocalist Michael Bastholm Dahl and drummer Josua Madsen. The rest of the lineup are Morten Stützer (guitars), Michael Stützer (guitars), and Peter Thorslund (bass).

Stylistically "Penalty By Perception" pretty much continues the thrash metal/US power metal style of "Legions (2013)". Artillery has always been labelled thrash metal, which to some extent is true enough, but they´ve always had lead vocalists who could actually sing, and who added enough melody to the predominantly thrash metal oriented instrumental part of the music, to make Artillery balance somewhere between technically well played thrash metal and US power metal. Exactly the same is the case here, where Artillery as always churn out one well played, memorable, and powerful riff after another, while lead vocalist Michael Bastholm Dahl adds a US power metal touch to the material.

Dahl is a skilled vocalist with a strong voice and a convincing delivery, but he doesn´t have a very distinct sounding voice. You can´t really fault him for the voice he was born with, and that´s not really my agenda here, but to my ears a more unique sounding vocalist could have lifted the music to a higher level. His best performance here is when he sings most melodic on the most quiet part of "When The Magic Is Gone". The instrumental part of the music is skillfully executed, and in addition to sharp thrashy riffing and well played guitar solos, the rhythm section play organic and tight.

Other than "When The Magic Is Gone" which brings a bit of variation to the 11 track, 53:40 minutes long album, the remaining tracks are pretty consistent in style and quality. The sound production is powerful, detailed, and clear too, so all in all "Penalty By Perception" is another strong album release by Artillery. A 3.5 - 4 star (75%) rating is deserved.

Warthur Danish thrash metal legends Artillery offer an album cover worthy of their name, and accompanying it an album of fantastically forceful thrash metal with some power metal influences worked in to keep things fresh. Hopefully this gets them the attention they've always deserved but never quite managed to get in the shade of more prominent thrash metal behemoths, though at the same time I find as time goes by it fades next to the classic By Inheritance; then again, the excellent production job done here means that these studio renditions get as good a chance as they can to win you over. It can be a bit cheesy here and there, that said - in particular, When the Magic Is Gone increasingly just doesn't work for me, and rather hurts the album's momentum as a result.

Unitron The power-thrash veterans Artillery are back with their eighth studio album, despite being around since the 80's. So how does it fare? Have they gone the way of quality over quantity or does it lack a certain spark? Continue reading to find out!

This is what I call Power-Thrash! Showing an equal flare for both catchy melodic hooks of power metal and thrashing blasts of sound, Penalty By Perception blends the two perfectly. The opening "In Defiance of Conformity" especially showcases this, with breakneck speed, a singing guitar solo, and an empowering chorus that has the resonance of a powerful cannon blast. Not to mention it's middle-eastern sounding intro, that harkens back to the intros of the classic By Inheritance and the more recent My Blood. "Sin of Innocence" also has a quite nice middle-eastern intro before inviting the listener for a mosh. The band goes beyond intros, with "The Path of the Atheist" which has powerful middle-eastern guitar crunching reminiscent of Melechesh.

This album is a jackpot for powerful choruses, "Live by the Scythe" and "Welcome to the Mindfactory" highlight this trait. Not that this is all catchy power-choruses, as the guitar riffs will go from thrashing the skin from your body to beating you over the head with a hammer (Or perhaps scythe in this case). The title cut does both at once, along with having one of the best sing-along choruses on the album. At the beginning the riffs are a bit slower, but waste no time giving the listener a brutal thrashing. Speaking of brutal thrashing, take a listen to "Deity Machine", and that is what you will certainly get plus a killer solo. The band will even throw in some well-placed groovy riffs, as heard in "Rites of War". The band also isn't afraid to slow it down, with the beautiful "When the Magic is Gone" which may as well be Artillery's "Fade to Black".

Michael Bastholm Dahl's vocal performance is that of a power metal vocalist, but fits perfectly with the music. His vocals have a similar vibe to Artillery's previous vocalist, as well as reminding me of Torben Askholm (Ex-Anubis Gate) at times. This is heard most in "Mercy of Ignorance", which certainly has a Askholm-era Anubis Gate-esque chorus. The production is awesome, perfectly complimenting the power-thrash sound. It creates the mood of being at a large outdoor arena surrounded by a great wall of sound.

Track after track, this is an absolute killer album. It's hard to pick any highlights, as each song will kick your ass and make you sing-along at the same time. If you love power and thrash, this is probably one of the best combinations out there. Artillery is a band that has seemed to gotten better with age, and this album further proves my conjecture.

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adg211288 I went into Penalty by Perception (2016), the eighth full-length album by Danish thrash metal act Artillery, without any real expectations about it. They weren't a band I'd heard too much by before, just By Inheritance (1990), which I think is a great album and their previous offering Legions (2013), which at the time I found enjoyable if somewhat unremarkable. Eleven tracks and about 54 minutes later I came out with a revised opinion about Artillery: this was a band I needed to listen to a lot more, the band having just delivered one of the most powerful thrash metal albums I've heard in a long time.

Coupling fast aggressive thrash riffing with a melodic sensibility and catchy style of songwriting that very nearly turns it into a power metal album, Penalty by Perception is an instant deliverer, bringing not a single weaker track to the table. They'll hook you in with In Defiance of Conformity and won't let go until the album closes with Welcome to the Mindfactory. Vocalist Michael Bastholm Dahl, introduced on Legions to replace Søren Adamsen, is one hell of a singer for this type of music. I like that he really does sing rather than resort to the shouty vocal styles prevalent in other thrash metal bands. I think that's what makes this one kick all the more arse. This is thrash metal done with class and maturity.

The band deliver killer track after killer track and then throw in what must be the most unexpected track on the record, When the Magic Is Gone, which is an acoustic led ballad. I don't often enjoy ballads even on power metal albums so in a thrash context they're not something I'd usually want to hear, except that this one is really tastefully done. A great way to break up the record before Artillery get back to business as usual with Cosmic Brain. Most of these songs are just that – business as usual – but man do Artillery have a winning formula on Penalty by Perception. Style wise it isn't actually all that different to Legions, just done better in every possible way, more polished in the production department and stronger songwriting across the board. I know that old school fans will likely disagree but I even prefer Penalty by Perception to By Inheritance.

I'm confident that this has to be one of the best thrash metal albums of 2016 – there's a few upcoming releases I have high hopes for and with Penalty by Perception Artillery have just made sure that they all have their work cut out for them. This is the one to beat.