To label Bristolian metallers Detritus merely as ‘returning thrashers’ seems to me to be doing the band a major injustice. For a start, there’s very little music on offer on the band’s new album, Myths, that would even sit comfortably within the confines of that venerable genre. Detritus are actually far more progressive a band than any single label or genre specification can contain, with the result being that Myths is one of the most entertaining and intriguing record you’ll hear in many a moon.

The band career all over the shop – in a good way – over the course of the album’s three quarter hour duration; the one recurring band that might come to mind is Savatage, but that’s a matter of bassist Mark Broomhead‘s voice being a dead ringer at times for Zachary Stevens rather than any sustained similarity. That said, the strident Pharisee could easily have featured on one of Jon Oliva’s late eighties rock operas…

Rather, the band pick all the best bits of metal’s last forty years and mould them into something that becomes entirely their own, The set piece track on which the whole album hinges, Exoria, blends disparate names such as My Dying Bride, Marillion and Type O Negative superbly, turning what might be considered an ill-considered mismatch of styles in to a sprawling, epically intelligent piece of modern heavy metal that is breathtaking in it’s execution.

The more straight forward strains of The Game echo latter day Metal Church, with Andy Neal and Paul Newington Wise meshing together with some superb riffage, backed by solid, skilful drum barrages courtesy of Andy Bright, whilst Bloodstained Glass adds some nice bass work to the mix; but singling out specifics is to ignore the fact that there really aren’t any weak points to be found wherever you might drop the needle on Myths. This is accomplished, confident stuff from a band that really sounds close to the top of it’s game. Welcome back guys – don’t leave it so long to record another album!

Myths releases on February 19th.