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Breaking The Code

    
       
       
       
     
             
Highways are a heavy metal band based in the USA formed in 2020, and releasing two albums to date - 'Texas Is Coming For You' (2021), and 'Breaking The Code' released in 2022.    
             
Featuring a truly multi-national line-up, each of the four band members hail from different countries - vocalist and guitarist Carlos Molina (Chile), lead guitarist Oleh Andrievsky (Ukraine), bass player Marvin Masok (Nigeria), and drummer Vinay Ramakrishnan (India). So you can just imagine the logistical nightmare of recording a studio album - all band members recording their parts in their home countries during March to September 2022! Mixed by Joe Coleman and mastered by Bob Sealock - the result is eight songs of melodic heavy metal across thirty five highly infectious minutes. The opening song 'Disposable Virtue', is also the longest song on offer, clocking in at over six minutes in length - and is a mighty swagger of infectious metal that grabs your attention and doesn't let go. The band delivering a slow burning barrage that just gets hotter and hotter! Hitting harder and with much more energy than the previous song, 'Survive' is a traditional metal gallop, featuring the classic "foot on the monitor" feel of the old school days. The days when the likes of Iron Maiden and Judas Priest were shaping the sound and direction of heavy metal - and conquering the world while doing so.    
             
'Cause if these two metal stalwarts hadn't, we wouldn't have got traditional heavy metal bands from other countries...like Highways. The band moving stealthily on with the melodic thumper 'Cut The Circulation' - replete with an anthemic oomph that just screams "listen to me". And listen you will, for the relentless chugging rhythm is infectious, and will involuntarily have heads nodding and feet tapping in rhythmic unison. Picking up the ante and motoring on, 'The Promise' is heavier than anything heard so far, losing none of the albums incredible melodious intent. The album to this point has been a relentless romp of head bang-able heavy metal, the band slowing things down for the mid tempo foot stomper 'Mechanized' - with an anthemic aura rising high into the sky above. The band beginning to show diversity in their approach to metal...    
             
...starting to hustle and bustle a bit more than previously with the heavy hitting 'Search For Freedom', rattling along at a fast pace, attracting the attention of some thrash metal fans too! The band stretching their musical boundaries and dipping toes into other styles of metal. With a definite old school feel, Highways adopt an immensely melodic vibe for 'Wasted Remains', a mid to high tempo changing charge of catchy heavy metal. The band are not re-inventing the metal sound here, but are giving it a very good polish. The album coming to an end with 'The Desert' - the shortest song on offer at just three and a half minutes in length - and also featuring the heaviest feel. The chugging guitars hit harder than anything heard so far, yet the bands root melodic nature has not been lost.    
             
Overall, an album of infectious and highly head bang-able heavy metal where every song is catchy and memorable.    
             
             
Review by Iron Mathew Collins    
             
Reviewed for Metal Gods TV    
             
             
Other Reviews    
             

           
           
Never Die      
           
"a highly infectious and head bang-able album full to the brim with traditional sounding heavy metal" Read Review      
     
     
     
           
             
             
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