We don’t feature too much Thrash Metal here except from the ‘four greats’, simply because in our humble opinion there isn’t too much interesting bands in the genre currently. Well, “Face The End“, the new CD from GAME OVER changed that. This is really well thought thrash metal, ‘listenable’, catchy.
With this album a new chapter begins for Game Over: turning into a five-piece act with the entrance of Danny on vocals and Leo on bass, the band aims to take its sound to the next level both in the studio and live. ‘Face The End’ is an album with a dual soul: a warning about the Western world’s critical state and a call to face challenges that often mark new beginnings.
The Game Over sound has reached new heights with heavier riffs transitioning from blistering fast sections to crushing mid-tempos and catchy breakdowns. Then anthemic gang choruses, and subtle synths parts create some eerie atmospheres inspired by ’70s and ’80s horror / slasher films, blending sheer intensity with haunting storytelling. Do you like early ’90s Megadeth? Better check out GAME OVER 2025.
To those unfamiliar with this band’s sonic stock and trade, a high-octane blend of Bay Area influences reminiscent of where Metallica and Testament were circa 1987-1988, distilled down to a more compact songwriting reminiscent of the iconic Nuclear Assault debut that is their namesake, covers a fair deal of it.
However, this generally tried, true, and streamlined approach to awakening the mosh pit comes with a heavy degree of dueling harmonies and rapid-fire lead guitar high-jinks axe-slingers Alessandro “Sanso” Sansone and Luca “Ziro” Zironi that will surely draw comparisons to classic Megadeth.
Pile on top a mighty battering ram of a rhythm section accomplished by drummer Anthony “Vender” Dantone and newly recruited bassist Leonardo Molinari and a razor-sharp production that cuts like ”…And Justice For All” would have if the bass were audible, and what emerges is a dual course meal of ’80s nostalgia and modern day aggression. One would be remiss not to note the huskier bite and forceful baritone of new vocalist Danny Schiavina, perfectly emulating the Chuck Billy brand of soulful fury and bringing Game Over’s sound into a far more epic place.
True to form, this sixth chapter in Game Over’s LP saga begins with a synthesizer-driven nod to the 80s slasher film genre in “The Final Hour”, but then opts to up the ante to a might metallic overture with guitar melodies oozing out of every crevice.
The subsequent ignition of madcap speed that is “Lust For Blood” trades in the band’s usual sledgehammer approach for a pile driver, pulling zero punches and allotting enough slots for Sanso and Ziro to tear up the fret board between Schiavina’s raging yet melodic verses to orbit Kill ‘Em All.
This guitar solo-happy approach proves to be a recurring theme that graces up tempo crushers like “Grip Of Time”, “Veil Of Insanity” and “Gateway To Infinity”, though there is a parallel and equally impactful element of earworm chorus hooks and a tight sense of rhythmic structure that turns these technical festivals of notes into highly accessible bangers. Brevity matched with kinetic riff works and virtuosic flair is such a pivotal factor that it wouldn’t have been hard to picture these songs being rock radio fodder back in the ’80s had there been a welcoming attitude towards thrash metal at the time.
While this album’s adherence to impact-based metallic splendor is without question, its well-rounded nature also affords a heavy amount of atmospheric contrast and toned-down melodic balladry to enter the equation.
Apart from the aforementioned introductory instrumental, the menacing interlude with a John Carpenter-like synthesizer bent “Tempesta” and the subsequent melancholic and slow-paced anthem “Crimson Waves” channels a dreary doom metal element that could be likened to a dark marriage of early Candlemass with Metallica’s “The Thing That Should Not Be”, albeit in a far less repetitive package.
The haunting mid-paced beast of an entry “Lost In Disgrace” takes a similar approach but leans into more of a late 80s Slayer aura while maintaining a crushing, Testament-inspired riffing approach. Otherwise frenzied thrasher “Weaving Fate” introduces a dreary element with a brief voiceover intro, and the iconic “Neck Breaking Dance”, in addition to functioning as Game Over’s answer to Exodus’ “Toxic Waltz”, sees Schiavina shifting to a casual yell amid the snarls and gang vocal interchanges that makes for a song that sounds like it’s in a live venue every time it plays.
In all respects, Danny Schiavina has the needed level of personality and charisma to bring this fold to the head of the new thrash metal pack, and the rest of the band are playing for keeps while keeping the final product short and succinct enough to result really effective and entertaining.
Even though the impression that is left by ”Face The End” and even the group’s own moniker is one of a conclusion being reached, it is surely not the final word in the Game Over story, and may well mark a band that is about to truly come into their own before the decade is out.
Highly Recommended
Tracklist:
Disc 1 (32:43)
1. The Final Hour (1:37)
2. Lust For Blood (3:19)
3. Neck Breaking Dance (2:51)
4. Grip Of Time (3:11)
5. Lost In Disgrace (4:12)
6. Veil Of Insanity (3:24)
7. Gateway To Infinity (3:51)
8. Tempesta (1:33)
9. Crimson Waves (4:57)
10. Weaving Fate (3:43)
Game Over – Neck Breaking Dance (2025)
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