GENERATIONS ARMY – Voices and Visions (EP Review)

I discover new and “new to me” music from a variety of places. Festival attendance is one way through either the pre-fest listening prep or the surprise live set. Another is through recommendations of friends. So, when a friend asked me to look into a band called The Generations Army I thought, “what the hell?”.

I quickly discovered that this Swedish thrash metal band also appeared in the upcoming 2019 Sweden Rock Festival poster as a part of the NEMIS (New Music In Sweden) stage. Hailing from Höör/Ludvigsborg, Sweden, The Generations Army began in 2014. So they are a fairly young band with only 5 years under their belts. Then I saw a photo…”young band” is a more apt description that I first thought. The age range studying the photo seems quite lower than the old man writing this blog!

Billing themselves as a new generation of Thrash metal from southern Sweden The Generations Army houses in its ranks: Elvin Landaeus Csizmadia (Rythm Guitar, Lead Vocals), Ragnar Östberg (Lead Guitar, Background Vocals), Erland Östberg (Bass, Background Vocals), Calle Frogner Moberg (Drums). Their debut album Still Screaming released in 2017, followed by the EP Voices and Visions in 2018. A new album is scheduled for 2019.

THE GENERATIONS ARMY – Voices and Visions EP

The Generations Army – Voices and Visions opens with an atmospheric building 2:01-minute intro, “Inhale”. Now, as discussed before in many of my reviews, I’m not a fan of these intros. In fact, I outright hate them. I believe they are completely useless and without purpose. I will say that this one fares better than most and does serve to elude the listener to the epicness to follow.

After that we are left with three songs of hardcore Metallica inspired thrash metal. First off is “Exhale”, the partner to my beloved intro “Inhale”, I suppose. “Exhale” charges at you straight away with a massive dick punch. The charging riffs, pounding drumbeats, layered guitar work, and snarling Hettfield-ish vocals make for a great track.

“The Vigilant” supplies over six minutes of the same neck-breaking thrash with a very old school Metallica vibe. The title track, “Voices and Visions” is the final inclusion and is another ripper. The official video for “Voices and Visions” is included below. These tracks are the kind of thrash that can appeal to a larger audience possessing a fair amount of melody.

THE GENERATIONS ARMY – Sweden Rock Festival

Definitely, one of the bands I’m now highly looking forward to at Sweden Rock Festival 2019. As a part of the NEMIS (New Music In Sweden) program, The Generations Army are on the Rockklassiker Stage, Thursday 6 June, 15:10. I’ve discovered a few bands thanks to NEMIS over my years at SRF and these young thrashers promise to deliver another fantastic set.

I just know that these three tracks from Voices and Visions will sound awesome live. Right along with that, I do hope that The Generations Army also include “World Cop” in the setlist. It’s a track from their debut album, Still Screaming, which I still have to track down and add to my collection. I’ve included the video below for your enjoyment.

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Cheers,

The Meister

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