CD Review: TENET - Sovereign

Strapping Young Lad And Exodus Collide With Skull-Crushing Impact

Aug 30, 2009

Talented Strapping Young Lad guitarist Jed Simon has joined forces with an A-Team of metal heavyweights to deliver his long awaited thrash throwback project.

Mentions of Canadian tech-shredders Strapping Young Lad invariably generate thoughts of their demented genius of a leader - Devin Townsend. Yet clearly other members of that progressive metal collective have their own stories to tell. Enter guitarist Jed Simon, here delivering a thrash metal project he (along with drummer Steve Wheeler) originally envisioned back in 1996.

Wheeler is absent from the final product - an angry slab of aluminum entitled Sovereign - yet none other than skin-slaughtering legend Gene Hoglan (SYL, Dark Angel, Dethklok) appears to damage unsuspecting bowels with pummeling beats. SYL bass guru Byron Stroud unsurprisingly joins the fold, but thrash metal aficionados will want to take note of the other two members - ex-Exodus belter Steve "Zetro" Souza on vocals and ex-Forbidden guitarist Glen Alvelais.

Zetro And Crew Keep It Retro And Brutal

This short, nine song disc is more than just a meeting of Strapping Young Lad and Exodus, though you can clearly hear the influence of both bands. Steve Souza's vocals aren't your usual Zetro gargle, for he mixes it up to include occasional bouts of creepy spoken word diatribes. Interestingly, his moments of outright shrieking recall the style of Rob Dukes, the current Exodus vocalist.

Hoglan delivers rhythmic brutality with ease, even though his reluctance to join the crowd and use drum triggers meant that his tracks had to be painstakingly recorded "for real". Also on the bottom end of the scale, there's the ever capable Stroud. While there aren't too many moments of his bass lines leaping out at the listener, his relentless chugging certainly adds heft to the overlying guitar riffs.

And about those riffs - they are godly. It's amazing that the stuff on this release hadn't already been written sometime in the Eighties. Songs like Going Down present slow, Overkill style trudging while others like Crown Of Thorns feature a more traditional thrash metal gallop. With Simon and Alvelais sharing axe slinging duties, the riffs are rife with melodies and the solos (yes, actual guitar solos) are face-melting showcases.

TENET Are Finally Here, And They're Very, Very Angry

While the riffs are groovy and infectious (and nearly impossible not to headbang to), there's a surprisingly deep well of anger explored within the lyrics (and hinted at by Travis Smith's dark cover art). Simon has written just about all of the words, and they represent a lifetime of pent up frustration over divorce and other familial trials.

Some moments are outright bleak, such as Being And Nothingness' existential musings over humanity's worthlessness. Others are more vibrant and in your face, and it's certainly a blast to hear whiny kids that scream about nothing being taken to task in the track Going Down. While it's never revealed exactly who the ubiquitous "you" is that the lyrics rail against, it certainly wouldn't be a pleasant experience to inherit their shoes.

The production by Simon and Vincent Wojno (with mixing help from sound-god Andy Sneap) is tight, crunchy and crisp. The copious musical pyrotechnics have all been captured and reproduced cleanly without losing any soul in the process. Jed Simon set out to make a no-apologies, straight ahead vintage thrash blowout, and he has certainly succeeded.

Rating: 8/10

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