Saviours

Accelerated Living

[2.5/5]



Saviours have the same crystal-meth energy, primitive riffing and throat-searing vocals as High On Fire; they’re just not nearly as awesome. While HOF’s Matt Pike follows in the footsteps of Motörhead’s Lemmy, Saviours frontman Austin Barber owes a clear debt to Discharge vocalist Cal Morris, and his bandmates crank out songs that sound like pastiches of Venom, early Iron Maiden, and other, similar bash-’em-in-the-head ’80s bands, with some hardcore and punk thrown in. That’s not to suggest that there isn’t raw pleasure to be found on Accelerated Living; there is, and plenty of it, especially on songs like the epic “Livin’ In The Void” or the biker-doom anthem “We Roam.” The latter track features some genuinely impressive guitar interplay, too. Ultimately, though, all three of Saviours’ albums to date have sounded like demos by your buddy’s metal band. They’ve got the energy and the power; now they just need to write some songs, and they’ll be ready to join HOF and the Sword in the top ranks of American underground metal. For the moment, they’re still just also-rans. (KEMADO) Phil Freeman



GO DOWNLOAD: “We Roam”