The Dying is the Belgian band formerly known as Chimaera. They changed their name into The Dying, because of the confusion that could arise with the American band Chimaira. This release is actually a European re-release by Drakkar Records, so some readers may already know this album.

The Dying plays a form of thrash metal which is influenced by thrash giants like Exodus and Kreator. Because of the vocal style, Testament influences are also lurking around. Three great bands and the combination of those influences could form an excellent thrash grenade!

They don´t succeed completely in this mission. They start furiously with `Scars And Stripes` and `Bottles And Pills`. Two excellent openers with a lot of aggression and passion! After these songs it seems that the level of the songs fades away a bit. The songs are getting more similar, which is mainly due to the voice of Jan. He has got a great thrash voice, but he doesn´t vary much in the use of his vocals.

The music also doesn´t contain many solos that could have given the various songs an own face. Almost all songs are solely based on riffs, but there isn’t that many variety between them. Besides those two remarks, I also am not very content with the production. The vocals are mixed in way more loudly than the guitars with as a result that you don’t always hear the riffs all too well.

Maybe after reading all those comments, one would think that it’s a worthless CD. That’s not true. It’s still a nice and enjoyable album, but since the thrash bands are falling from the tree like overripe apples, I think it’s necessary to separate the excellent bands from the good bands. It’s a fine album, but not groundbreaking. It has its flaws, but overall the song quality is not more than okay.