ARCANE (US) - DESTINATION UNKNOWN LP

WILD RAGS, 1990! From the band’s ’88 Mirror of Deception demo to its debut full-lengther (haven’t heard the ’94 release), the Texas five-piece always played with a fairly progressive and technical traditional style that rarely sliced the thrash realm. In a down-to-earth manner, Arcane made sure catchiness was a focal point without the demand for urgency, and in contrast to material by Watchtower and Cynic, allowed the listener the enjoyment of a more laid-back and pleasant event. Yeah, sounds pretty unmetallic, but on the other hand Destination Unknown is an album I can relax to without leaving the metal empire or feeling bored. Of course the anti-stellar production from Wild Rags unsurprisingly fails to inject any fullness into the final recipe, but Arcane do it well enough on their own to overcome the flatness of sound. Opening with elegant, semi-acoustic reverie, strong and conventional “Recurrent Inception” throws a lasso around the catchiness and breeds it with seven other tracks. “Enshrouded Crypt” two-steps with rhythms both quickly-picked in a light thrash fashion and slowly impassioned, meanwhile “Infernal Domicile” throws more semi-thrash rations to the wolves, maneuvering through fiery rings of fast-picking with many moderate sections woven into the mix. “Ancient Internecine” is another catchy tune chock full of rhythmic shifts and tempo changes. Oscar Babour’s trained, higher end mid-tone remains at a reasonable level for just about the entire lp, but it isn’t surprising when a high note or two pierce the sky of some songs, meanwhile the two-fold guitar intervention of Byron Hawk and Doug Judah keep enliven tracks in perfect intervals. The start of side two’s “Life’s Illusions” frenetically builds with a growing scream that hits a somewhat heavenly height, then straightens with more customary rhythms that nail speed frequencies in short spurts. “Impasse of Humanity” is perhaps the lightest feature on the lp owed mainly to a serene, acoustic-like midway, but the rest of the track carries on with more catchy, vocal-driven-rhythm propulsion. “Mirror of Deception” is a fine instrumental dogged by muscular melody that gallops, trots, swaggers, and bear walks with the best of them, setting the scene for “Agamemnon”, the finale that’s edged on by fairly creative songmanship, tight rhythmic power, and even a surge of drama smack in the center. Bottom line is Arcane isn’t going to bowl over people waiting for Cannibal Corpse to take the stage, nor are they going to disappoint those in the market for tight, hooky traditional songwriting with an occasional rise of power. Not exactly a stretch of the imagination, but hey. And to debunk the “Is Metal For Losers” thread, run a Google search for Byron Hawk and in the first five pages or so try to not find something about the Ph.D he earned or an article on philosophy or English he’s written. I’ve contacted him. Same guy.