DRAXXIS was a US metal band from Pennsylvania formed in 1985 and its discography contained a demo in 1989 and the “Book of Life” EP in 1993 – the band went inactive around 1997. In 2016 a vinyl record was released which contained the demo (and some basement recordings), and now we have for the first time on CD that demo (without the basement recordings) as well as the “Book of Life” EP.
There aren’t many huge differences between the demo and the EP songs, in terms of style or sound, so we are talking about a coherent album. The band had an interesting style, somewhere between MORDRED and METAL CHURCH. If someone took “Fool’s Game” (MORDRED’s debut) and added the melancholic classic metal touches that METAL CHURCH had in “Badlands”, “Watch the Children Pray” and similar songs, we can safely say, that this blend would give the sound of DRAXXIS.
So, “Book of Life” is a low and mid-tempo compilation album where some songs follow the groovy aspect of the bands mentioned above (not the funky nor the thrashy/speedy one) and the other tracks have this “dark, depressive, ballad-like” mood that METAL CHURCH used to have in some songs. I think the second style worked a bit better for them, so tracks such as “Book of Life”, “Dream Demon” and “Tides of Destiny” are truly great and give off a nostalgic 90s metal sound that is completely extinct nowadays. On the other hand, the groovier fans will appreciate the songs “First Full” and “Breakwater”.
DRAXXIS was a quite special band that did not follow the speedy version of heavy metal, but gave priority to the creation of atmospheric metal songs with distinctive melodic guitar themes and Mike Howe – like vocals. Since this kind of music cannot be found easily these days, “Book of Life” is a good choice, especially for those who miss the early days of 90s heavy metal.
Check the discussion about the album in our forum pages.
