Shatter Messiah is the new group formed by Curran Murphy (ex-Nevermore and ex-Annihilator). Sonically the music is rather close to Nevermore, and if I must label, I'd call it melodic thrash metal. The vocalist proved to be the hardest piece of the puzzle to find, but eventually Curry was flabbergasted by Greg "Wags" Wagner (Breaker & ex-Archetype), who he chose as the frontman. Thus the songs are characterised by dramatic vocalising that ranges from top to bottom sounding like a mixture of Warrel Dane (Nevermore) and Randy Rampage (Annihilator). Furthermore, the songs balance between clean passages and manic thrash metal extravaganza much in the vein of those two aforementioned acts.

The album has been produced fairly well, though I prefer a bit ballsier mix. In my view the sounds should have been a bit warmer and punchier, 'cause as such they are slightly sterile sounding, which strangely however suits the music. All in all, Shatter Messiah's debut record "Never to Play the Servant" is quite good melodic thrash metal album, though it quite doesn't compare to Nevermore's latest offering "This Godless Endeavour". It's a shame Shatter Messiah doesn't manage to build their own identity on this record, as they sound too similar to their influences. I, for one, would have wished to hear a bit more unique sounding offering from them.

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- MAGE (October 12th, 2006)

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LINE-UP:
Warner, Greg: Vocals Murphy, Curran: Guitars Holt, Dusty: Guitars Boisvert, Ron: Bass Falzano, Robert: Drums
Producer:	Unavailable
Mixing by:	Unavailable
Mastering by:	Unavailable

	TRACKLIST:
	01. Never to Play the Servant 02. Crucify Freedom 03. Frailty 04. Hatred Divine 05. Fear to Succeed 06. All Sainted Sinners 07. Inflicted 08. Drinking Joy 09. Bad Blood 10. Blasphemy Feeder 11. Deny God 12. Disillusion 13. Bleed to Shadow 14. New Kleen Killing Machine Length: 59:15