Forte (Technical Speed Metal)

I got this Forte CD at the Record/CD show last weekend. Matt @ Tribunal/Divebomb kept telling me how awesome it was and describing it to me, but I never got around to it. I now wish I had picked it up sooner!

This is late 80s/early 90s Technical Speed Metal madness! It reminds me of what Helstar & Toxik were doing at that time. Really clean sounding, tight, precise stuff! Quick tasty flashes of shreddy guitar/bass stuff, strong clean vocals and plenty of fast-paced tempos.

If you dig that kind of stuff, you need to check this out! It's on Divebomb Records AND Forte will be putting out a NEW CD later this year via Divebomb!

Got this one from Detritus zine a while back, good stuff. Haven't listened to it in awhile tho.

Ult has reviews for a couple of their albums on his site. Always wanted to check them out based on those reviews, but never got around to it.

Quote :

Forte will be putting out a NEW CD later this year via Divebomb!

So is Stranger Than Fiction a re-issue or recordings of old demos and stuff?

MetalGuy71 wrote:

So is Stranger Than Fiction a re-issue or recordings of old demos and stuff?

It was a re-ish of an album from the early '90s, with a bunch of bonus demos 'n' stuff tacked on.

Some samples available at Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/Stranger-Than-Fiction-Forte/dp/B004LSJCQ0/ref=sr_1_13?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1335275604&sr=1-13

Sounds promising. I like that the vocalist isn't too over-the-top with his vocals. More mid-range from what I can tell. Sometimes those helium-high notes can get to be a bit much.

I was really into this band for a while. Sort of forgot about them. Might have to go back and revisit some of those old CDs.

I enjoy them. Talk about a band playing a style of music that was completely unfashionable at the time of release! If these guys had been around 10 years earlier or 10 years later, they would have been a success.

Sick logo.

I have their later cds. I need to get that reissue.

Love the first two a lot. Right degree of thrash there for me, with enough melody to keep it interesting.

So, hypothetically speaking, if someone were to investigate a little further into this band, where might be a good place to start?

MetalGuy71 wrote:

So, hypothetically speaking, if someone were to investigate a little further into this band, where might be a good place to start?

The album I posted in my initial post, the remastered, reissued Stranger Than Fiction on Divebomb...good price, sounds good, and has the '89 and '91 demos as bonus tracks.

MetalGuy71 wrote:

So, hypothetically speaking, if someone were to investigate a little further into this band, where might be a good place to start?

sold

Looks like they've been through a few vocalists in their career too. The remastered version that you're pimping here Shawn isn't the same guy that is with them now is it?

MetalGuy71 wrote:

Looks like they've been through a few vocalists in their career too. The remastered version that you're pimping here Shawn isn't the same guy that is with them now is it?

Nah..looks like they've had a different guy since '97...the original singer James Randel was on the above debut album and the follow up album Division, both on Massacre Records originally.

One of the bonus tracks on the above reissue is the Metal Massacre XI version of "Dementia By Design" which is a non-album track featured originally on their '89 demo.

Bought this awhile back. Great album!! I'm looking forward to hearing their new stuff.

I don't know if I'd call this band "technical" ... certainly not as much as TOXIK or HELSTAR. The bass sounds cool though.

Definitely something to check out for folks who dig stuff like REALM or INTRUDER though.

One of my favorite bands. These guys were a bit out of time when they came out, maybe even ahead of their time. They kind of skirted heavy metal, thrash and progressive metal, and they got lost in that 90s shuffle. No one could pigeonhole them, so they kind of got ignored. And they still do.

Which is unfortunate, because they're fantastic. This reissue is excellent, but I think Division is a great place to start. Different singer from the debut and those that came after, but it's my favorite by them. They're all great, though.

When Locky started Slaney Records, I was working with him to get the label off the ground (I had my own label long ago), and a Forte album was supposed to be the first release. If I remember correctly, James Randel was back in the band and had recorded a bunch of new songs with them. He was even going to lay down some vocals for a track or two from Rise Above for exclusive tracks as well. Or something like that.

Either way, the whole thing fell apart, after Locky had paid for artwork and all that. Kind of sucked and I don't think the band handled things too professionally, but that was years ago at this point, so whatever.

Their latest EP, Vae Solis, is awesome. So if that's any indication of what's to come, I can't wait. =)

cool. will check these guys out

I have all of Forté's stuff, not the remastered Stranger Than Fiction yet - but the original vinyl release which must be rare as f**k nowadays. I think the band went on to do better albums with catchier material, they're kinda like classic Anthrax, Priest, Metal Church and Pantera in a melting mix but made something of their own.

Here's one of their new tracks, from Vae Solis.

That sounds awesome. Like they never went away. So the new album's done. When and where is it due out?

stpatrik wrote:

That sounds awesome. Like they never went away. So the new album's done. When and where is it due out?

No. They put out a limted-to-100 EP last year or so. It's called Vae Solis. Apparently the new full-length, Unholy War, is coming out through Tribunal, or maybe Century Media, on July 12th.

I only have DIVISION and its not a bad album. Some guitar parts could have been on the AND JUSTICE FOR ALL album by METALLICA. Also i hear some old ANNIHILATOR influences. The singer sometimes sounds like the BLITZKRIEG/SATAN singer.

Eyesore wrote:

stpatrik wrote:

That sounds awesome. Like they never went away. So the new album's done. When and where is it due out?

No. They put out a limted-to-100 EP last year or so. It's called Vae Solis. Apparently the new full-length, Unholy War, is coming out through Tribunal, or maybe Century Media, on July 12th.

Tribunal