Oh how they’d love to…

…Claim supremacy I mean. But there’s something about Italian thrashers Game Over, something in the way they churn out their Bay Area retreads that lets you know that supremacy is, to all intents and purposes, beyond them. At least until a real rethink is undertaken, at least.

Last time I heard this band, when I was asked to review their 2014 album Burst Into the Quiet, I sensed a band with the chops and possibly the ambition to go a fair way in the Euro thrash Cup. Three years later I don’t really see a band that’s made any real progress, a band seemingly content to hang about in mid table without any real go-forward or burning desire to get into the top flight.

Not that there’s anything necessarily wrong with that. Sometimes it’s good to know your limitations, and simply enjoy what you’re doing. And if other people come along for the ride, then so much the better. Claiming Supremacy is the work of a competent thrash band, nothing more, nothing less. The big (make that BIG) sounding production – the record was mixed by none other than Joel Grind – will certainly garner some attention, with vocalist Renato “Reno” Chiccoli’s bass rumbling impressively out of the speakers in a way you just don’t hear enough of on a lot of ‘major league’ thrash releases.

Last Before the End is pretty impressive, with big gang vocals and assured soloing, not to mention some inhuman drumming from Anthony ‘Vender’ Dantone at the end of the song, whilst the heavier, more jagged direction of My Private Nightmare offers a glimpse at the potential Game Over undoubtedly possesses. I’d like to see them pursue this direction more in the future, rather than endlessly re-imagining the works of Vio-Lence and Death Angel.

So, not much has changed in three years. Game Over clearly have the skill to make waves, even if real, solid-gold inspiration is still a little thin on the ground. Worth a listen whatever.

Claiming Supremacy is out now on Scarlet Records