{"id":36338,"date":"2014-01-26T09:17:01","date_gmt":"2014-01-26T14:17:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=36338"},"modified":"2014-01-26T09:17:01","modified_gmt":"2014-01-26T14:17:01","slug":"weapons-reflections-of-a-troubled-mind-cd-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2014\/weapons-reflections-of-a-troubled-mind-cd-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Weapons | Reflections of a Troubled Mind<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

\"WeaponsThe fourth vintage band to be spotlighted by Divebomb Records\u2019 new Bootcamp series (which focuses on overlooked and forgotten demos, both new and old), is Weapons, a thrash metal unit out of Maine (of all places) that was active in the late \u201880s to mid 1990s. The band made an impact on the local scene and was almost signed to the Mechanic label, but by that time thrash\u2019s popularity was already declining. <\/p>\n

There were a lot of second and third wave thrash bands that never made it, largely because their sound was nothing more than a carbon copy of the Bay Area originators. Weapons though, had a quite a bit more going on in their sound. That\u2019s not to say they\u2019d have become a household name \u2013 by the early \u201890s that was pretty much impossible \u2013 but their music holds up a lot better than most later thrash bands. It\u2019s not just \u201criff riff riff, bark bark bark.\u201d Guitarist Stefan Blacart delivered melodies to balance the thrashing riffs, and vocalist Edwin Ecker III displayed both power and a strong range. The band also incorporated more traditional heavy metal elements and even a hard rock approach later on.<\/p>\n

Divebomb\u2019s Bootcamp Weapons collection Reflections of a Troubled Mind<\/em> includes the band\u2019s 2-song 1988 State of Oblivion<\/em> demo, their 5-song 1992 The Art of Impact<\/em> demo and their 5-song 1994 demo Reflections of a Troubled Time<\/em>. It is limited to 500 units and features new cover artwork, vintage photos, lyrics and a new band interview. The audio has been remastered to the best extent possible given the source material.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s interesting to see how the band progressed between 1988 and 1994. The State of Oblivion<\/em> tracks are classic thrash, but by the time The Art of Impact<\/em> was released they had a more melodic side that recalls Flotsam and Jetsam and even Armored Saint. The later material on Reflections of a Troubled Time<\/em>, while still unquestionably metal, was more hard rock oriented, almost like Wicked Maraya meets Slave to the Grind\u2013era Skid Row. <\/p>\n

Score one more great underground metal discovery for the Divebomb Bootcamp series. Reflections of a Troubled Mind<\/em> is a fantastic collection of vintage heavy metal. If you\u2019re already on top of the label\u2019s other reissues, particularly in the thrash arena, you\u2019ll definitely want to check out this Weapons collection. Thrash fans in general, especially those who don\u2019t mind when the genre lines get a bit blurred, should also find a lot to like here.<\/p>\n

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

Band:
\nStefan Blacart (g)
\nEdwin Ecker III (v)
\nMatt Lewis (b)
\nGerald \u201cSonny\u201d True (b)
\nSonny Robinson (d)
\nKevin Risch (d)<\/p>\n

Track Listing:
\nWalls of Defense
\nIn Dark Places
\nThe Invisible War
\nYour Shadow Knows
\nSeason\u2019s End
\nA Lesson Well Learned
\nAll I Need
\nBehind the Door
\nDeath of Common Sense
\nReflections of a Troubled Mind
\nState of Oblivion
\nThe Ultimate Escape<\/p>\n

Label: Divebomb Records<\/p>\n

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

Hardrock Haven rating: 8.75\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Justin Gaines – News Editor\/Senior Columnist — The fourth vintage band to be spotlighted by Divebomb Records\u2019 new Bootcamp series (which focuses on overlooked and forgotten demos, both new and old), is Weapons, a […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":36339,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10848],"tags":[2317,923,2491,8696,1101,8695],"class_list":{"0":"post-36338","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arcrvws2014","8":"tag-cd-review","9":"tag-divebomb-records","10":"tag-heavy-metal","11":"tag-reflections-of-a-troubled-mind","12":"tag-thrash-metal","13":"tag-weapons"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36338","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=36338"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36338\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36339"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36338"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36338"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36338"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}