Yes, I should have reviewed this in 2019 when it came out, but I plead Not Guilty by reason of having just started this site three weeks ago. The Age of Entitlement was (SPOILER ALERT) my favorite metal album of 2019, and is one of the best thrash albums of the past decade. As such, I think it deserves the full track-by-track review treatment. I'm going to skip the part where I explain the history of this band and their importance in the 80's thrash scene. If you don't know anything about Acid Reign, go bone up and come back.
Ready? Let's do this.
After nearly 30 years between albums, it seems cruel to tease us with an instrumental intro. If I'm being honest, I skip this about 50% of the time, so I can just get to it. But if you’ve got the patience, T.A.O.E. is a cool prelude to the main event, lending a sense of gravitas to an album that more than earns it. 8/10
Fantastic energy in this song. People have often compared Acid Reign to Anthrax, but I've never really heard it until this album. While the riffs are certainly Scott Ian tight, and H's vocals aren't as far off from Belladonna's mid-range as one might imagine, I think the comparison holds up mostly as a statement about the energy the band brings to the music. This isn't an album made for a paycheck or to keep the tour cycle rolling. There's intensity to every element of this song, from the lyrics to the riffs to the production.
The breakdown at the 2:18 mark is excellent, and the hard charge that comes after it will straight-up tear your face off. “Have a party and hang you from a fucking tree (THAT tree!!!)”. H sounds better than ever, and proves he’s one of the most charismatic vocalists in metal. I'm trying not to get all hyperbolic here, but what the hell. This is one of the best thrash songs of the 21st century. 10/10
Modern thrash in the best sense. I can’t imagine the band could have conceived of it prior to 1995, because it perfectly couples a solid thrash foundation with the groove- and (…gulp…) nu-metal trends that came after it. While I usually dislike those trends, the way it all fits together here is plain brilliant. This song is a blast and catchy as hell, with a killer solo in the last third. 10/10
It's pretty much a given that the album will go down hill from here, because there's just no way the band has another song that hooky in them and...wait, what's that? ANOTHER banger? The chorus on ‘My Peace of Hell’ is completely out of left field, and a pure shot of adrenaline. This is probably my favorite song on the album. If you’d played it to me in 1986, and said “This is what thrash sounds like in the year 2019,” I’d have popped a crushed beer can in Mr. Fusion and hopped in your DeLorean for sure. 10/10
Confession time, I spent a fair portion of my youth not realizing that Garage Days Re-revisited was a collection of cover songs. The fact that I was ten years old may have been a factor. But I also think Metallica just owned those songs so hard that it didn't really matter that they hadn't written them. Such is the case for Acid Reign with ‘Blood Makes Noise’. It took two or three spins before I caught on that it's a cover of a Suzanne Vega song, despite having heard the original before. It’s a great cover and a perfect fit for both Acid Reign and this album. 10/10
This is another straight ripper, unfortunately hamstrung by a weird bridge/post-chorus part that shares a bafflingly similar chord progression with ‘The New Low’. At the 2:00 mark, try singing the entire chorus of ‘The New Low’, and then thank me for ruining this otherwise excellent song for you. Bands repeat themselves all the time, but rarely so blatantly on the same album. A shame, because if that part were omitted or changed up just a little, this would be another top track for me. 6.5/10
Pretty much the only mid-tempo song on the album, and it's not bad. In fact, it's probably got the most old school, Acid Reign-y chorus on the album. There's something about the way H screams, “Look at you! Look at me!” that just feels right. Perfect solo around the 2:43 mark. The lead work on this album is uniformly excellent. 8/10
Do we really need another metal song about The Evil Dead? Apparently we do, because this song rips. One of the catchiest choruses on an album already chock full of them. My only beef with ‘Within The Woods’ is it feels a little darker thematically, lyrically and tonally than just about anything else preceding it. If I'd been consulted, I'd have suggested making it the last track on the album. 9.5/10
Probably the most straight-forward song on the album. If you've ever heard a thrash song in your life, nothing about ‘Ripped Apart’ will surprise you—other than, perhaps, the ferocity with which it's played. Of course it's still super catchy, because Acid Reign apparently don't know how to do it any other way. I'd be surprised if this doesn't become a mainstay in their setlist, as it seems tailor made to make crowds pit. 8.8/10
This one has a major And Justice For All… vibe. The breakdown at the 3:08 mark is a big nod to ‘The Frayed Ends of Sanity’, to the degree that someone in Acid Reign probably owes Papa Het a sandwich. I like this song quite a bit, and it makes for a solid album closer (though not as solid as ‘Within The Woods’ would have made). 8.0/10
There you have it. Acid Reign are back and kicking ass like a band half their age. Actually, they're doing better than that, because I can't think of a band half their age that knows how to write a vocal hook as good as anything on The Age of Entitlement. It's truly a lost art in modern metal.
Beef with one song and a minor sequencing preference aside, the songs on this album are not only individually strong, but flow together really well. This is an album you can put on, play it through, never get bored, and still want to hit play again when it's over. My only concern is that I just don't see how the band can possibly top it. I'm not even looking forward to the next album, because quite frankly, it can only disappoint. If it takes another 30 years to make another one this good, so be it.
The Age of Entitlement has everything I look for in a modern thrash album. Killer riffs, hooks galore, and a totally chrazamatic vocalist.
