When an album is self-titled it’s usually reserved for a debut album, at other (less often) times it is employed to represent a moment of rebirth. When it comes to Forbidden’s sixth, eponymously-titled album it is very much the latter. It has been sixteen years since their last long player and with three new members present since they returned from their second hiatus, there’s a feeling that the slate needs to be wiped clean and a fresh start undertaken. That’s very much what’s happened here; long term fans needn’t worry, this is still a thrash album, only delivered with the energy of a band birthing their first, hence; Forbidden.
As mission statements go, things don’t come much more assertive than opening cut ‘Single Point Failure’. Indicative of the band’s new found purpose, there’s no time to waste on fancy preambles or elongated preambles, there’s no sparring to soften us up, just a skull crushing riff and artillery fire drums that find Forbidden racing out of their corner and they immediately put the listener on the ropes. It’s a swirling tempest that’s sure to transfer well to the live environment (always the Litmus Test for a thrash metal song), seemingly guaranteed to turn any crowd into a seething mass. It is perhaps the vocalist with whom people most identify a band by and Norman Skinner is doing a decent job in making the mic stand his own. He’s certainly no slouch and brings a wealth of experience with him, turning in a confident performance that brings to mind Flotsam’s Eric A.K. Knutson. Of the other new members, guitarist Jeremy Von Epp does a good job locking in with founding member (and guitarist) Craig Locicero whilst drummer Chris Kontos will be a familiar name having played with Testament and Machine Head, and along with old school bassist Matt Camacho Forbidden form a tight unit and display an obvious chemistry. Despite releasing a succession of strong albums that have all scored highly on those aggregate sites, I firmly believe the band’s fluid line-up has been a hindrance to their joining thrash’s premier tier (or at least the other “Big Four”), yet this incarnation of the band evidence a great deal of promise, if only they can stick together.
Forbidden’s greatest asset is undoubtedly the variety on offer. Rather than just being one long thrash-athon, the band aren’t afraid to mix things up and subsequently things never become staid, making this the type of album that can be consumed in one sitting. There’s a constant shifting of gears; thus, the staccato machine gun fire of ‘Divided By Zero’ sits next to the twisted wreckage of ‘DCLXVI’ which morphs into the groove laden ‘Psyclops’ before the band deliver the ethereal and otherworldly ‘Jisei’. However, thrash is what Forbidden are most known and they serve up plenty of furnace blasts to keep the old school happy, ‘Mutually Assured Dysfunction’ is particularly feisty and delivers plenty of neck snapping sections.
‘Flower Of Life’ is the epic closer, a song of several suites that pulls all themes introduced into a cohesive whole, ensuring that Forbidden is the sweetest exilir.
- Forbidden is released via BLKIIBLK on 23rd October 2026.
Track List:
1. Single Point Failure
2. Burning The Lungs of Earth
3. Divided By Zero
4. DCLXVI
5. Psyclops
6. Jisei
7. Mutually Assured Dysfunction
8. Sycophantasy
9. The Burden
10. Sol Grave
11. Flower of Life (Chaos By Design)
