Maximum Metal Rating Legend

Spellbound - Incoming Destiny - 2005 - Armageddon Music

Track Listing1. Sonic Departure 2. Incoming Destiny 3. Arrival Of The Gods 4. The Hollow 5. Spiritual Decline 6. Focus 22 7. Trust In Fire 8. View To Remote 9. Hate 10. The Human Race

Armageddon Music has really stepped up in a big way this year, focusing on tons of killer metal releases and firmly establishing themselves alongside AFM Records, Nuclear Blast, and Century Media as a portion of the top tier of labels within the metal community. As if the year couldn't possibly get any better, in comes a brand new act called Spellbound with their debut record "Incoming Destiny". With such limited time together as a band, this young group of musicians blend together perfectly to create a modern thrash concept built on the fundamentals of the Bay Area scene while still injecting melodic power metal influences and a bit of technical arrangement. "Incoming Destiny" should find it's way onto plenty of "Year's Best Of" lists.

The really big thing that stands out here is the magnificent production job from Andy Classen (Holy Moses, Tankard, Dew-Scented), who understands perfectly the type of sound this band needs. He grasps the thrash feel perfectly, with his skills probably the best in the business when it comes to high speed affairs. This is a much needed approach in today's "high-end" atmosphere, especially when these types of "underground" thrash groups are competing with big billed bands such as Exodus, Trivium, and Nuclear Assault. With that massive production job comes the sounds of Spellbound, who for the most part combine on the technical precision of Annihilator, the heaviness of Forbidden, and the German speed fests of Kreator and Destruction. I have always enjoyed this sound and Spellbound really take it to the next level. With "Incoming Destiny" the bands pulls out all the stops, exploding in mid to fast paced songs with smokin' leads and a furious drum sound. Vocalist Lennart Vocke sticks to the speed metal approach, really sort of digging into a raspy, high speed approach that is far more pleasant than today's standard hardcore shouts. Overall this is a bombastic debut and one that will propel the band into stardom within the metal community very, very soon. It worked for Perzonal War, and it will work for Spellbound.


--EC 12.29.05