Since Forbidden’s second split about a decade and a half ago, guitarist Craig Locicero has always been very vocal about not wanting to revive the band without singer Russ Anderson. Hearing Imagika’s Norman Skinner perform with Bay Area Interthrasional changed his mind, and that is a great thing, because that means there finally is a new Forbidden album, and one that is considerably better than their first comeback ‘Omega Wave’ (2010). While that was a welcome return, this new self-titled album just feels much more spontaneous and uninhibited, whilst keeping Forbidden’s core creative thrash metal sound firmly intact.

It has always been that creativity that made Forbidden one of my top three thrash metal bands of all time. There isn’t a single Forbidden album that lacks this creativity, but despite a few clear highlights, the blending of the modern metal sound that Locicero clearly loves and the band’s somewhat progressive thrash roots felt a little forced at times on ‘Omega Wave’. The ingredients on ‘Forbidden’ are similar, but the results simply feel much more lively from a performance standpoint, while the disparate elements enhance each other much more compositionally. Skinner also does a phenomenal job replacing Anderson.

What stands out most compared to ‘Omega Wave’ is how much more bite there is to the riff work. This is partially a result of how Zack Ohren mixed the album, but the way the riffs are constructed works wonders as well. No one will mistake songs like ‘Mutually Assured Dysfunction’ and opening track ‘Single Point Failure’ for Bay Area thrash metal from the eighties, but there is a similar philosophy behind the riffs, especially in how it’s okay to play a little higher on the neck. That’s where the band spends most of the time they aren’t going full prog-thrash.

The more ambitious songs are probably going to divide the fan base, but it’s there where Forbidden truly shows its class. At nine and a half minutes, closing track ‘Flower of Life (Chaos by Design)’ is the longest song the band ever released, and it brings together all the elements of the album. There are full-on thrash sections, ominous slower sections and prog exercises, all in a highly accessible package. Songs like ‘DCLXVI’ and ‘The Burden’ show that the band made immense progress in making crushing slower riffs sound truly ominous, and ‘Sycophantasy’ has a subtle rock edge that somehow still fits right in.

Comeback albums can be a difficult beast. Lean too much into the sound you are known for, and the result might be a nostalgia-based album of little artistic relevance, but try to modernize your sound too much, and you will alienate your fanbase. Fortunately, Forbidden’s self-titled sixth album is the exception the rule. While there are more contemporary prog elements in their music than ever before, they still sound like the highly creative thrash metal band they always were, with an amount of energy that many younger thrash acts aren’t even able to muster. Welcome back!

Recommended tracks: ‘Single Point Failure’, ‘Flower of Life (Chaos by Design)’, ‘DCLXVI’