Hittman - Destroy All Humans

[Random Axe]

I somewhat remember having their debut on cassette in the late 80s and pretty much had never given them a second thought. They are about to release this new album on Oct 9, and it's a huge surprise. I would never have expected this quality. Someone obviously has been listening to their Vicious Rumors, Queensryche and Savatage albums. While there is no direct influence detected, you can hear various bits and pieces from those bands and maybe a little Leatherwolf. I would have to assume the new singer is in a Queensryche tribute band cause he's got the chops, maybe better that Latorre. They label them selves as progressive power metal. They probably should leave off the prog part, but this is absolutely stellar. This is going to rank pretty high on my 2020 list
https://youtu.be/yHBA5y39cIU

[Hearing Aid Man]

Their S/T is a classic. You should revisit it. It's amazing IMO. Second release went too commercial, but still some good tunes.

[introclaus]

I've had the album for a few months now and I really like it - there's a few minor things about it that bothers me, but it's overall a real solid release, and Dirk Kennedy still sounds as amazing as he always did (too bad Anthrax didn't hold onto him when they had the chance back in their early days, would have been interesting to see how a thrash band with that kind of vocalist wouldn't have fared ...).

Here's my "review" of the album:


32 years after their self-titled debut album, and 27 years following their second (and until now last) album “Vivas Machina”, New York’s progressive metallers Hittman are finally back with their third release, the quite impressive “Destroy All Humans”. Setting things off with the ass-kicking title track, the disc is off to a great start. Still in the band from the lineup that recorded the previous two albums are guitarists Tim Bacchi and John Kristen Inglima, as well as vocalist Dirk Kennedy (who, by the way, still sounds absolutely phenomenal), and with the participation of such critical members I expected this to follow up where the band left off with “Vivas…”. However, as evidenced by the first-out-of-the-gate title track, and also by the single released last year “The Ledge”, the band has chosen to take a step even further back, and their sound 2020 is more akin to the 1988 debut than that of their sophomore disc. Personally I find that a bit of a shame, as I always have held “Vivas…” in really high regards as a very original album comfortably straddling the line between progressive power metal and melodic hard rock (imagine if Queensryche and Bon Jovi made an album together!), whereas the debut was a tad too “inspired” by Queensryche. That said, the debut is still a classic in its own right (come on, “Metal Sport” and “Dead on Arrival” are anthems of the genre, I know…), but I had kind of hoped for a bit of the crossover appeal of their second album. Well, as I like to tell my son when he complains about our dinner choices; you’ll get what you get and you don’t get upset … “Destroy All Humans” is great for what it is, don’t misunderstand me, I really like this album a LOT, but I think the fact I was hoping for something else has made me push the disc a bit more aside than it actually deserve.

[Random Axe]

So this is the same vocalist as the debut? I'd have never connected those dots as the styles and tone, to me anyway, sounds totally different. OF course 1988 Ray Alder and 2020 version are quite different so there's precedent. Yeah, I dig the hell out of this. It's not deep, proggy or particularly complex. It's just the straight up metal that we need this year. I'll have to search out Viva...never knew they had a sophomore album...

[Guillaume]

I think it's a killer comeback. I really enjoyed their first album, not so much the follow-up.
New one is heavy, melodic and a tad progressive. I hear some Queensryche, some Savatage in the songs. Singer sounds even better now than in the 80s for me. Not as high, still really powerful.

The 2 vids so far:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwVFls0tWWU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTBz8GEzpTE

[introclaus]

II really enjoyed their first album, not so much the follow-up.

The second album is my favorite of theirs - the fact that they were able to combine melodic hard rock with power/prog metal like they did was just mindblowing at the time. It was something quite unexpected and I thought it worked really well (I do remember a lot of people didn't enjoy it back then).

[Random Axe]

Update:

This album is several kinds of great. I had an opportunity to spend quality time with it this week. It has all of the above mentioned characteristics and stylings but also maybe a little Magnitude Nine without the shred. I still have a few discs to give attention, but this could crack my top five this year.

[Guillaume]

Update:

This album is several kinds of great. I had an opportunity to spend quality time with it this week. It has all of the above mentioned characteristics and stylings but also maybe a little Magnitude Nine without the shred. I still have a few discs to give attention, but this could crack my top five this year.

Killer indeed. Top 10 for me for sure.