Band:	66crusher
Album:	Limbo
Style:	Progressive metal, Thrash metal
Release date:	February 2023

01. Retribution
02. Strife
03. Phantom
04. Descent
05. Distrust
06. Unscarred
07. Limbo

One thing that I’ve learned from Limbo is that, if your album starts off as thrash and you want me to listen to the whole thing, morphing your style into turn-of-the-millennium Opeth by the end of the first song is a decent way to go about it.

Limbo is the fourth album by Norway’s 66crusher, who I must confess have come up with one of my least favourite band names. 66crusher are described on their Bandcamp as progressive thrashers, and in some ways it’s a legitimate classification. However, they don’t play progressive thrash metal in the way that Vektor, Mekong Delta or Watchtower do; this is less progressive thrash metal, and more an album that is at different times progressive metal or thrash metal, with some occasional overlap in between.

If you want an example of this, listen to that first song on Limbo that I alluded to in the introduction, “Retribution”. It’s a very no-frills thrashy introduction to the song, albeit with a sung vocal style that’s on the more melodic end of the thrash spectrum (which is consistent for the album as a whole, with no growls or other extreme vocals), but after a few minutes of shifting between sharp-edged, fast-paced riffs, a guitar solo acts as a bridge between this introduction and a slower, more melodic second half. Those jagged thrashy guitars give way to more widespread use of clean guitar tones, and the way these evolve ultimately leads into closing stages that have double bass rolls and chord choices that are eerily reminiscent of certain passages in mid-era Opeth songs. Another song with some hallmarks of Opeth is “Phantom”; a passage starting about a minute into this song has a combination of strummed chords and haunting vocals that surely takes some inspiration from softer passages on My Arms, Your Hearse and Still Life.

Given that Limbo starts off in such uncompromisingly thrash fashion, it’s perhaps surprising that 66crusher shift the style so far into the background for the next couple of songs after “Retribution”, with only the odd riff on “Strife” and “Phantom” owing anything to the genre. They haven’t abandoned thrash by any stretch of the imagination, however, as it comes back with a vengeance in “Descent”, and later in “Distrust” and the title track. The alternating between thrash and softer, proggier passages on “Descent” and “Limbo” perhaps make ‘progressive thrash’ a more applicable genre tag, particularly the 10-minute title track, but even then, the second half of this song shies away from speed and aggression in favour of a more classically prog-metal sound based on melodic guitar work.

When they are in prog mode, 66crusher aren’t overly complex or aggressive; there’s a number of exuberant or shredding guitar solos, most notably on “Distrust” and “Strife”, but otherwise the music prioritizes melody. Vocally, Jarle Olsvoll’s deeper singing voice at different times reminds me faintly of Russell Allen and Tom Englund, albeit in a gentler, more muted form, and the music matches by bearing some resemblance to material by Evergrey and Nightingale. The melody can come through in specific moments, such as a lush lead guitar passage midway into “Strife”, or in whole songs, like the acoustic-based “Unscarred”. Emotionally, the more effective guitar leads can stir the feelings, as can the more impassioned vocal passages, especially those coming in the closing stages of “Strife” and “Limbo”.

Limbo is stuck slightly in limbo for me, between a fairly straight-nosed approach to a genre I’m not a frequent listener to (thrash) and a rendition of a style that I do like, but of the more classic period of said genre that I’m less inclined towards (progressive), but they do somehow find a way to win me over. Without really being overly enamoured with Limbo, I do think the band have a good ear for melodic guitar work and vocals while taking notable but not excessive inspiration from more established prog bands (although I know there’s at least one more obvious comparison that I just cannot think of right now, what with how familiar some of these songs feel), and the thrash side does add positively to the feel and variety of this record.