{"id":30829,"date":"2013-07-14T12:21:55","date_gmt":"2013-07-14T17:21:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=30829"},"modified":"2014-02-08T08:36:56","modified_gmt":"2014-02-08T13:36:56","slug":"forte-invictus-cd-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2013\/forte-invictus-cd-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Forte | Invictus<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Justin Gaines<\/span>
\n– Senior Columnist\/News Editor —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Forte\"Having already delivered a deluxe reissue of Forte\u2019s debut album Stranger Than Fiction<\/em>, not to mention presenting the band\u2019s scorching comeback album Unholy War<\/em>, reissue specialists Divebomb Records have turned their attention to the middle albums from this underrated Oklahoma-based power\/thrash act. 1994\u2019s Division<\/em>, 1997\u2019s Destructive<\/em> and 1999\u2019s Rise Above<\/em> \u2013 all out of print previously – are collected on the new two-disc set titled Invictus<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Beyond having a very compelling sound that was melodic enough to satisfy power metal fans and speedy and technical enough for thrash fans, Forte\u2019s steadfastness is a big part of their appeal. When mainstream attention turned to all things alternative in the mid \u201890s, Forte made another killer power\/thrash record in Division. When thrash bands started falling by the wayside and nu-metal took over later in the decade, Forte answered with two more uncompromisingly fast and powerful metal albums in Destructive and Rise Above. All three albums show where the band was coming from \u2013 i.e. a strong Testament and Annihilator influence \u2013 and all three sound as vital and relevant today as they did in the \u201890s. Sadly, the band never really broke through to the wider audience their music deserved, and they spent much of the following decade on hiatus.<\/p>\n

Invictus features all three of Forte\u2019s \u201890s releases, newly remastered, plus liner notes that include lyrics, vintage photos and press clippings, plus the original album cover artwork. It\u2019s the perfect bookend to the earlier Stranger Than Fiction reissue, and the remastering (once again handled by Jamie King) alone is going to make this a worthwhile upgrade for those who already own the original releases.<\/p>\n

Obviously a collection like Invictus is going to be of most interest to fans that are already familiar with the band, but it makes a pretty impressive introduction to Forte\u2019s sound for newcomers as well. Either way, if you\u2019re a fan of heavier power metal, thrash metal or any point in between (particularly Armored Saint, Iced Earth, Sanctuary, Forbidden and Testament), you\u2019re going to want to get your hands on this excellent collection.<\/p>\n

Genre: Power Metal, Thrash Metal<\/p>\n

Band:
\nGreg Scott (d)(k)(v)
\nBill Dollins (v, Division)
\nDavid Thompson (v, Destructive and Rise Above)
\nRev (b, Division)
\nRichard Sharp (b, Destructive and Rise Above)(k)
\nJeff Scott (g)<\/p>\n

Track Listing:<\/p>\n

Disc 1
\n1.\tMan Against Machine
\n2.\tFading Away
\n3.\tNinety Nine
\n4.\tForgiven
\n5.\tRise Above
\n6.\tDestroyer
\n7.\tPoison Tongue
\n8.\tBurn
\n9.\tOver My Head
\n10.\tUntil the End of Time
\n11.\tBarcode
\n12.\tDeviate
\n13.\tHammer
\n14.\tDestructive
\n15.\tOctober
\n16.\tHeal Me
\n17.\tStrength
\n18.\tNeversleep
\n19.\tThe Hard Way
\n20.\tArt of War
\n21.\tEternal
\n22.\tFar Away<\/p>\n

Disc 2
\n1.\tDischord
\n2.\tOne Flesh
\n3.\tInhuman
\n4.\tDivision
\n5.\tThirteen Steps
\n6.\tLegacy of Silence
\n7.\tThe Last Machine
\n8.\tUltimatum
\n9.\tE.2.M.N.
\n10.\tBack to Zero
\n11.\tIn This Life
\n12.\tFast As a Shark (Accept cover)<\/p>\n

Label: Divebomb Records<\/p>\n

Website: www.facebook.com\/fortemetal<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven rating: 9\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Justin Gaines – Senior Columnist\/News Editor — Having already delivered a deluxe reissue of Forte\u2019s debut album Stranger Than Fiction, not to mention presenting the band\u2019s scorching comeback album Unholy War, reissue specialists Divebomb […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":30830,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8704],"tags":[336,923,2291,6836,1097,334,1101],"class_list":{"0":"post-30829","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arcrvws2013","8":"tag-cd","9":"tag-divebomb-records","10":"tag-forte","11":"tag-invictus","12":"tag-power-metal","13":"tag-review","14":"tag-thrash-metal"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30829","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30829"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30829\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30829"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30829"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30829"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}