Modified Poison

E-Force is the brainchild of Eric Forrest. He is the former bass player/vocalist of cyber-metallers Voivod. Forrest started E-Force back in 2001. The name of the band was actually taken from his Voivod moniker, E-Force. Modified Poison is the latest offering from E-Force. It contains twelve pummeling tracks of modern thrash metal in the vein of bands like Exodus and Annihilator. The band consists of Eric "E-Force" Forrest on bass/vocals, Cyril Bernhard on guitars and Alsvid on drums. The one thing that stood out immediately for me on Modified Poison is the top notch production. Thrash metal is one of those genres where in the very beginning, everything seemed to blend together and it was much harder to make out what one instrument was doing compared to the others. It was more like Trash metal. These days, improvements in recording technology have greatly improved the way Thrash metal is recorded and produced. There is a separation and clarity of sorts that can now be achieved where everything can now be heard when mixed together so one thing does not over shadow the other. Modified Poison has excellent sound quality and a well balanced mix.. Achim Kohler helped master the album. The majority of songs on Modified Poison are comprised of dark churning, mid paced songs to very up tempo and speedy double bass ones. The buzzing guitar riffs of Bernhard are played with razor sharp aggression. The lead guitar work is flashy yet played with plenty of emotion and feeling. The drumming of Alsvid is inhuman, driving and played with machine like timing and precision. The bass tone of Forrest is very metallic sounding, giving the music a futuristic feel. The vocals of Forrest are a throat guttering assault of screaming fury. The musicianship of all three band members is tight, synchronized and sounds better than most five pieces! My one concern for E-Force is having an identity or stamp that makes them stand out from the rest of the pack. I hope that their music does not get lost in the mix of the many other bands that play this type of Thrash metal. After a while, alot of these bands sound the same and have nothing that separates them from the rest of the pack. You might hear one of their songs on the radio or internet and without looking at the name of the band or song, guess three or four other bands before realizing who you are really listening to. E-Force treads waters where this type of stuff has been done before. It's just a question of who does it better. Modified Poison might take several listens to sink in. With that said, I think most won't mind the incubation process by which this album will take to grow on you. The end result should justify that!