COCKROACH strike again! These German thrashers that have already been active since 1992 and they used to play old school Thrash Metal of high quality. Now, it’s not pure old school anymore. Comparisons with Testament are still justified in some way, but some modern elements have been added. The label info tells about a touch of Fear Factory and I can’t say that they are totally wrong. But it’s really a very moderate, careful and well-thought-out modernization, as you can already hear in the opening song Unexpected Life, and still more in the tremendous title track. “You still hear the roots” is usually an empty phrase, sometimes even a lie, used by some big magazines, but here it’s more than true. And the best thing about it: Not only that COCKROACH play the modern parts exactly as well as the traditional ones, they even know how to combine them perfectly. Of course, some tracks (as, for example, Desireless or those I already mentioned) are more traditional whereas others (Perfect World, Kiss To Eternity) contain a stronger modern edge. The range of Frank Geues voice reaches from a touch of Hansi Kürsch (in the very early Blind Guardian years) to shouts that sound like Burton C. Bell (Fear Factory). Just listen to songs like Eternal Life – all elements of the record are united there (and not only there). With the last few tracks of the album it still gets more exciting: You get everything from some Death Metal – like riffs to several parts that must be described as traditional Heavy Metal – and everything fits together! I take my hat off! Of course I had no problem if the new influences weren’t there. But one should be open-minded enough to recognize great compositions and songs when listening to them – and hear you got plenty of them. Nevertheless I hope that the modernization of COCKROACH’s sound is complete and finished right now.