Like DISTORTION, Forbidden breaks free of thrash for something… stranger
Originally released in 1997, GREEN was the fourth of five full-length albums by Hayward, California’s Forbidden (which is just south of Oakland in the Bay area). The band plays technical thrash metal masterminded by guitarist Craig Locicero and have been on hold since 2012. My favorite album by them is easily their last one, 2010’s OMEGA WAVE. That disc took the late 80’s technical thrash of their first two albums — FORBIDDEN EVIL (1988) and TWISTED INTO FORM (1990) — and superbly mixed it with the peculiar arty approach of their two mid-90’s releases — DISTORTION (1994) and GREEN (1997).<br /><br />That brings us to GREEN. With the emergence of grunge in the early 90s after the success of Nirvana’s NEVERMIND, Craig & the boys felt freed-up to drop the thrash metal polka and really explore their craft. Don’t get me wrong, there’s still a thrash element, but it’s less one-dimensional.<br /><br />Like its older cousin, DISTORTION, everything about the band is technically improved on GREEN, but something about the songwriting prevents the songs from grabbing the listener. As such, you can listen to the whole album and enjoy it, but walk away not remembering any particular song. However, this is resolved by repeat listens: The more you hear, the more jumps out at you.<br /><br />The highlights for me are the haunting doom of the opener “What is the Last Time”; the experimentalism of “Turns to Rage,” which includes spoken word during the stanzas and features a quirky post-chorus piece; the heavy grunge metal of “Blank,” which starts psychedelically; and the eccentric, but catchy closer. For those with a need for speed there’s a punk/thrash/speed trilogy (tracks 6-8).<br /><br />The album was just too deep, too different, in the mid-90s for the average rock-metal aficionado who apparently preferred “a mosquito, my libido.”<br /><br />GRADE: B+/A-
Rating: 4 stars