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Iron Age - The Sleeping Eye

Rating

RIYL

Metallica
Bitter End
Cruel Hand

Release Date

08/04/2009

Label

Tee Pee Records

Tracklist

1. The Sleeping Eye
2. Dispossessed
3. Burden Of Empire
4. Materia Prima
5. A Younger Earth
6. Arcana Pt. I
7. Arcana Pt. II
8. The Way Is Narrow

Sure, Death Magnetic was an attempt at returning to their roots, but let’s be honest: Metallica haven’t released anything worthwhile since 1989. Even though it has been twenty years, a good portion of metalheads haven’t forgotten about the thrashy genius that occurred in the ‘80s. And while most of us have sat around complaining about modern Metallica while we drink our domestic beers, Iron Age have managed to remember the good times and convert those memories into some brilliant hardcore music. There is no attempt to even pass off any of the eight (that’s right, they even have the amount of tracks down pat) songs off The Sleeping Eye as the most original hardcore tracks ever. Why? Because Iron Age don’t give a shit, and that’s what makes The Sleeping Eye so awesome.

Want to hear the Metallica-ness in full form? Then try out track one, “The Sleeping Eye,” which has an awesome chant-worthy tribute to “Creeping Death”. Or give “Burden Of Empire” a shot, since it has “Blackened” written all over it. And yet, tracks like the epic eight-minute closer “The Way Is Narrow” and the two-part “Arcana” are completely separate beasts that have the same Metallica influence, but go beyond it and become something more powerful (not to mention that “Arcana Pt. I” has one of the best thrash riffs ever). This is where most of the album lies; half of it sits in the late ‘80s, half in the modern hardcore realm that has the influence of the ‘80s.

Despite referring to Metallica as much as possible in this review, The Sleeping Eye is still an Iron Age album that should be recognized as its own beast – ironic coming from me, I know. On its own, it is a fantastic album that will have hardcore and thrash fans moshing each other into pieces for at least the next twenty years.

--Logan Broger