Fifteen months after releasing their successful debut album “The Divine Equal”, Vancouver’s thrashers Titans Eve are already back with their sophomore album, “Life Apocalypse”, another concept album based on life’s tragedies. It is often, if not always, a big task for a band to come up with a good second album when the first one received such praises so I was a bit afraid when I first listened to it. Would I be hearing “The Divine Equal Part II”? Would this album be as good as, or even better than its predecessor? Would it just simply be so bad that I would use the CD as a coaster?

First things first, I have to express the pleasure I felt when I saw the cover artwork, done by Björn Goosses, which is such a big improvement from the one on their debut album; it is beautiful and it really sets the tone for the theme found on this album! There, I had to say it and it’s now out of the way so we can proceed with what really matters here, the music itself!

Titans Eve continues to move forward creating its own modern genre of thrash metal with an album that is much faster and more aggressive than “The Divine Equal”. The guys know how to create an entertaining album, “Life Apocalypse” flies from beginning  to end with catchy guitar riffs as found in “Road to Ruin” or the absolutely great title track “Life Apocalypse” jumping at us at full speed and which has an amazing chorus that remains stucked in our head and is guaranteed to induce head banging. Another great moment on this album happens right after the title track with the folk-like instrumental song “A Wound That Never Heals”, an interlude that can be seen as the calm before the rest of the storm comes by with other great memorable songs such as the last two; “Frozen in Time” and “The Void”. The lead guitar is really well done too and complements the rhythmic sections perfectly.

The drumming is also very good, nothing too intricate here yet very effective and heavy with a big dose of double bass all along. Casey Ory even throws in some blast beats, which is not very common in the thrash metal genre, but he manages to pull it off! Brian Gamblin on vocals is also a big part on this album, as he was on their previous one. His low and raspy vocals style fits so well with the other instruments and adds to the overall aggression.

So, did Titans Even managed to create a good second and maybe surpass their debut album with “Life Apocalypse”? Definitely, the production sounds better, the song writing seems more mature, but what I think really makes this album superior from its predecessor is its constancy, it stays kick ass from start to finish, it is the kind of album that won’t make you reach for the skip button.

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