Some of you with a bad habit of spending countless hours playing videos games and more specifically Guitar Hero might recognise the name Megasus since one of their songs “Red Lottery” was featured as a hidden track in Guitar Hero 2. It turns out that all the four members of this young band from Rhode Island work for Harmonix, the company responsible for the creation of Guitar Hero and Rock Band. So they’ve squeezed a song into the game for self-promotion, yet not without merit ‘cause in my opinion their debut self-titled release displays some very capable song-writing.Musical influences on this album include everyone from Slayer to High on Fire, yet Megasus’ music is mostly identifiable with recent beard-wave of North American acts plying a crusty and sludgy sound. I guess what distances Megasus slightly from the pack is their old-school and often vile approach that predominates throughout some of the album’s songs, so don’t make the mistake of expecting any radio-friendly tunes here. Themes like “Hexes/Szaadek” and “Paladin Vs. Berserker” sound fiercely crusty and thrashy, recalling at times Lair of the Minotaur and to some extent Celtic Frost, and with vocalist Jason Kendall sounding like Tom Araya on the verge of bursting his vocal chords,. One other songs like “Swords”, “Red Lottery” and “Iron Mountain” Megasus displays a greater emphasis on groove, definitely more in tow with acts like Sabbath and High On Fire.
While there are definitely parts of the album that could be considered enthralling, there’s really nothing about “Megasus” that is going to revolutionize your existence in this world, it’s essentially a solid, competent and well-executed release that dwells in a sonority similar to bands like Lair of the Minotaur, Rwake and Ramesses.
(6.8/10)
David Alexandre
Band info: flightofthemegasus.com
Label info: www.20buckspin.com
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