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With their ranks being filled by ex-members of Megadeth, Scar The Martyr and Shadows Fall, thrashing quartet Act Of Defiance have been swarmed by hype since their 2015 debut, Birth And The Burial. Old Scars, New Wounds is a follow-up disc that dares not only to live up to the standard of its mighty predecessor, but also threatens to surpass it, its corpus comprised of an unhallowed union of thrash, metalcore and techy punishment. Shredlord Chris Broderick unabashedly shows off the true extent of his skills on the strings on entries Broken Dialect and Another Killing Spree, while the groove-laden Overexposure takes cues from melodic speed demons like Trivium. Frontman Henry Derek switches between grungy cleans and growls, balancing out the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it intricacies of Act Of Defiance’s skilled musicians, all of which make Old Scars, New Wounds an impressive trailblazer of an album.
