The Vicious Head Society
Extinction Level Event

Extinction Level Event is what The Vicious Head Society calls its new album, has me thinking of a question by Morgan Freeman – and I think I do know something about ELE, at least I have listened a lot to this album. It seems like the debut Abject Tomorrow was just recently released, but it was four years ago already. It was an excellent album, and this one certainly shows a lot more promise. It looks at the event as the end of the world and we get a few personal stories in that regard, so what can we say about the album?

That it has a very exciting cover is one thing I can immediately say, it looks really exciting. Another thing in regard to the product itself is that it is a shame that the t-shirt with the cover art is not included in the limited box, instead there is an uglier t-shirt. That is too bad for those that can’t or don’t want to spend money on both the t-shirt and the box. I think of things like that. The music is progressive metal, similar to what they did on the previous album but a stronger and more interesting production that what they had on the debut. Or they? The band is really Graham Keane, and he has some guests making up the numbers, like the same singer as the previous album. He is a good singer, and for this album Keane has enlisted the help of a growler to add some aggression to the album and it does the charm.

It is an album with good variation and depth, so good variation that the hourlong playing time doesn’t seem as long as many such lengthy album can appear. It is really excellent, one of the finest albums of the year. All the songs are great, there are no weaknesses here. You can hear where influences come from, but I think The Vicious Head Society has found a pretty personal sound that is both fresh and exciting. I like how they take the familiar, and make it something of their own, and that they do make progressive metal that is progressive in terms of making a progression rather than just emulating a kind of style that is called progressive without really being so. That is always refreshing and from time to time we find such albums, like this one.

Check it out, it is a great album that is both easy to like and has lots of depth. I keep noticing new and exciting things when I play through this album, and whoever gets it should be very pleased about the acquisition. It looks great, and it sounds great, it is an album you should not miss – excellent stuff!

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