Review written by Glenn Schrijvers.

Behind Bars is a loaded cocktail of groove, hardcore and thrash metal. The band is formed late 2015 and in 2017 they released an EP called "Our Escape" and in 2019 came the debut album "Free At Last." Also Behind Bars represented our country at the Wacken Metal Battle at Wacken itself (Stijn "Metal Shredder" was there to support them).

In addition, they shared stages with the likes of Madball, Pro-pain, For I Am King and many more. The new album release party is Friday 3 March with support from Hope Erodes at Skulls Rock Café in Geel.

The artwork from the previous "Free At Last" album was a dark presentation of a broken dying world with a dead person hanging from a rope. On this new "All in due Time" album this dark side remains because, well, they have cookies. It's a sinister presentation of an hourglass as a prison with a skeleton inside. So does the album's artwork fit with the name and album of this band?

Hell yeah! I experience it like we are all trapped in an hourglass with a certain expire date just waiting on a certain death. Because in all due time we all perish.

We start with ‘Means To An End’ and straight from the beginning you hear Behind Bars got an even darker and more vicious sound than ever before! The Ian's vocals are rawer compared to his predecessor and I consider them a genuine improvement, plus Ian's vocals remind me of the German crossover metal band Soulprison. The riffs are brought so raw and rare that the blood comes out of my headphones. The climax of the song made me want kick somebody in the teeth after that fool dared to stab me in the back! This song makes me want to start a moshpit because the ferocity in this song is just unreal!

Next up is ‘Bleeding Heart’ that starts with melodic riffs that make you headbang like crazy (especially in combination with the sudden blast beats) and finally this track features a breakdown so heavy that I kicked out my slippers and started two stepping. This song is going to make people insane so beware of the crowd killers! This is a tune for the heartbroken people! I wish I had this song when I was breaking up with my ex! The lyrics hit hard for me personally and that’s why this is one of my favorite songs on Behind Bars' "In Due Time" album!

Without catching a breath ‘Lockdown’ starts like a freight train, fast and relentless! This song is a molotov cocktail of earsplitting riffs, menacing vocals, spine crushing blast beats, outraging bass and a BLEGH! The succeeding song ‘Silence Or Death’ does not let us catch our breath because Behind Bars keeps on pushing harder and harder, merciless and uninhibited! There is another outstanding breakdown that features the phrase "Shut the fuck up!" I never knew such words could be so impactful! And if that breakdown and vocal delivery doesn't make you move then the blast beats will!

Then comes ‘No Faith’ that brings more melodic riffs to the game and band shouting. Well my fellow Shredders, I believe that Behind Bars will need to bring along an ambulance with every show that they'll be doing to promote this new album! Next song is ‘Blackout’ that keeps on giving us filthy melodic riffs that make you headbang and give you the urge to mosh. Steven goes all out with these riffs and Andy backs it all up with his bass. Next up is ‘Trapped Inside’ showing that Behind Bars keeps going full throttle no matter what. There is a lot going on in this song for a first listen it will sound like chaos but, if you listen closely it all fits in harmony. I would call it harmonic mayhem drenched in hardcore.

‘Doomsday’ is the second music video that came out on Behind Bars' YouTube channel, check it out at the end of this review. This song is packed with blast beats, menacing riffs, brutal vocals. The most insane part is at when Ian says: ‘Are You Ready For Doomsday?’ And then a bomb drops and all hell breaks loose! Next up is ‘End It All’ and here Ian pushes his vocals even further! The finale of this song is a killer breakdown with ending blast beats with the words ‘End It All’ in my opinion this would be a good tune to end a set. The last song is the title track of ‘All In Due Time ‘and yet again for after almost 34 minutes of destruction no time to catch your breath with this song. We end with a bang with head ripping riffs, devastating blast beats, feral vocals and the the best breakdown of the album!

Behind Bars have blown my mind with their new album ‘All In Due Time’. It is a unstoppable freightrein loaded with filthy breakdowns, nasty melodic riffs, menacing blast beats and roaring vocals dripped in a dark atmosphere. They really set the bar sky high and blew it up and kept going! I am looking forward to hearing the new songs on Antwerp Metalfest. This is for the Shredders who love bands like Born From Pain, Glower, Volatile Ways and Menacer.

90/100