Formed in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture in 2005 Shady Glimpse have recently signed a deal with European label Wormholedeath Records who will reissue their Supreme Gift album on 17th December 2021. As a precursor to that release, the band have just re-released the video single DIOVig-C and it’s a thrash-tastic slice of metal.
Shady Glimpse draw influence from the classic Bay Area (San Francisco) sound and anyone who grew up near the 1980s will recognise it. It’s a sound that brings to mind boom boxes, skateboards and high-top basketball trainers and it is heavily indebted to bands like Exodus, Heathen and Vio-Lence. Like the scene that inspired them Shady Glimpse play a ferocious brand of thrash metal; it’s a pedal-to-the-metal, needle-in-the-red ride that’ll leave you looking windswept at its conclusion. However, for all their sonic fury Shady Glimpse keep one eye on melody and DIOVig-C remains catchy as hell, and while some thrash can become chaotic these guys keep everything in check with melodic guitar lines.
Lead vocalist Yuichi Takei has a style that reminds me of Testament’s Chuck Billy and he effortlessly alternates between clean singing and guttural growls. He formed the band along with guitarist Shinya Sakai in 2005 and the two display an obvious chemistry with Shinya’s guitar lines flowing and ululating with Takei’s vocals. Both drummer Yasuhiro Nishiyama and bassist Tomohide Shimizu joined in 2011 and lock in tightly to provide a pounding rhythm section and DIOVig-C is performed with the confidence of a band who have been playing together for a decade. An intricate web of riffs this video single ebbs and flows perfectly and includes an almost ambient mid-section that acts as a foil and makes the metal that sandwiches it all the more crushing.
Aesthetically too, Shady glimpse pay homage to the ‘80s and there’s something very Anthrax-inspired about their attire while the video finds the band dodging neon blue and red laser beams. However, Shady Glimpse have a sound that’s all their own and thanks to WormHoleDeath, Europe can now receive their Supreme Gift!
Supreme Gift is released via Wormholedeath Worldwide on 17th December 2021.
