B.A.C.K. 1999

""B.A.C.K." is not considered a proper Artillery album by some, and the Stützer brothers themselves have also described it as more of a project thing. But if it walks like a bantha and smells like a bantha, it must be a bantha, and this sounds like Artillery and it's got three fifths of the band plus, hey, it's released under the Artillery monicker.

So for my money, it's an Artillery album.

Musically, we are dealing with typical Stützer-composed Artillery thrash with fast paces semi-technical riffage combined with groovy and more melodic parts. There are a lot of strong tracks on this album, such as "Cybermind", "WWW", "how Do You Feel", "Paparazzi", and the title track. The afore-mentioned groovy parts are more prevalent on this album than on any predecessors, but that is probably due to a general influence from groove metal which was prevalent in the 1990s. Given that the band still retains some groove nowadays, "B.A.C.K." is perhaps a bigger milestone in the history of the band than most people consider it to be.

This is the last Artillery album to feature Flemming Rønsdorf on vocals. I have always liked his unique and strange voice, and I think that he does a really good job of it here, too. It is in part his presence on the album that makes this a true Artillery classic in my eyes (well, ears, I guess).

This is an underrated released by an underrated band. Thrash metal fans should check it out. It is not as good as the legendary "By Inheritance" or their subsequent albums, but it is still very good.

Oh, and Invocator and The Haunted fans might take an interest in it too, as it features Per M. Jensen on drums.

(review originally posted on metalusicarchives.com)"