Sad that this review is being written literally days after the band announced that they were breaking up. It’s even more unfortunate because this is a really good record! Don’t get me wrong, there are some definite downsides to The Black Tides of War but most of them are nit-picky. Rusted Dawn have created an album’s worth of songs that will make you want to bang your head until your neck snaps (or, if you’re as old as me, until your vertebrae start to seize up). That’s the mark of a good thrash record, how sore your neck is when it’s over. Some may say that it’s how much you want to punch the guy next to you while listening to it, but I’m a bit of a pacifist.

Whether you’re a fan of 80’s thrash or for what now passes as thrash, Rusted Dawn will not disappoint you. The album features enough rough production and rough around the edges vocals that you could imagine the band sharing the stage with the some of the bigger names of the 80’s, but they do still have a modern sensibility (as in, the production doesn’t completely suck) that will please the folks who think MP3’s are the only way to hear music. My biggest complaint about the band is the soloing. Most of the solos are relatively unimaginative compared to what is happening with the rhythm section. The rhythm section, including the rhythm guitar, is absolutely rock solid. They are heavy, tight and driving, just the way they need to be. Not flashy at all, but not needing to be, the songs are interesting enough, the riff changes cool enough that there doesn’t need to be any over playing.

This is an album that easily should have been put out on vinyl, and probably cassette, but alas Black Tides of War may be the last hurrah for Rusted Dawn. Fans of thrash and definitely fans of Canadian thrash should pick this up as soon as possible.

By Jason Wellwood
Aug 30, 2010