01. Black Rock Heart (feat. Kai Uwe Faust and Chloe Trujillo)02. Ruling Queen (feat. Alissa White-Gluz and Kenny Andrews)03. The Last Howl (feat. John Tardy and Andreas Kisser)04. No Remedy (feat. Maria Franz)05. Out Of Breath (feat. Lord Of The Lost and Chloe Trujillo)06. Better Man07. Never Be Up08. Army Of The Trees09. Visions Of Life10. AddictedMetal has a habit of responding in times of crisis. The looming death of the planet at the hand of man-made climate change is widely viewed as the biggest challenge of our times, and SAVAGE LANDS are actually doing something about it. A collaboration between Costa Rican musician Sylvain Demercastel and MEGADETH drummer Dirk Verbeuren, this non-profit-organization-cum-band have already protected 100,000 square feet of Costa Rican rain forest, partnering with others to campaign for the preservation of this vital ecosystem. All of the profits from the sale of “Army Of The Trees” will be invested in ongoing projects, from tree-planting to animal sanctuaries. Hard to argue with. Easy to support.Meanwhile, SAVAGE LANDS have pieced together a debut album that has plenty to commend it. Verbeuren plays drums on three songs, which is reason enough to tune in, and an assortment of guests provide vocals and guitars. Essentially an esoteric take on modern thrash, SAVAGE LANDS’ sound varies wildly from track to track, but a core of big riffs and anthemic hooks holds it all together. The opening “Black Rock Heart” is a big-booted, goth metal stomper with ’80s overtones, and singular vocals from HEILUNG’s Kai Uwe Faust and noted cosmic visionary Chloe Trujillo. “Ruling Queen” features ARCH ENEMY’s Alissa White-Gluz whizzing through her impressive repertoire of feral screams and melodic raucousness, and a magnificently overblown solo from OBITUARY’s Kenny Andrews. Tearful but triumphant ballad “No Remedy” is a glittering, heart-rending showcase for HEILUNG’s Maria Franz. Most exciting of all, “The Last Howl” pairs the insane howls of OBITUARY’s John Tardy with the portentous soloing of SEPULTURA’s Andreas Kisser and justifies the whole SAVAGE LANDS enterprise on its own.Demercastel is an adventurous and inventive guitarist, and while it is the big names that will draw people to “Army Of The Trees”, his band’s refreshingly atypical approach to modern metal deserves to have equal billing. “Out Of Breath”, which again features Trujillo, duetting with red-hot electro-goth Lord Of The Lost, takes a hatchet to alternative rock, weaving goth-friendly melodies through a dense mesh of grungy riffs and angular grooves; and the title track is a blur of frenzied percussion, muscular, old-school riffing and giant, life-affirming choruses. In truth, the album’s second half fails to match the first, and ballsy hard rock songs like “Never Be Up” and “Visions Of Life” — sung by fiery SAVAGE LANDS frontwoman Poun — pass by without too much intrigue or incident. But given the motivation behind the whole thing, and the self-evident passion that Demercastel and Verbeuren bring to the table, “Army Of The Trees” can be forgiven for not being entirely cohesive. The message — save the fucking planet, you idiots — is crystal clear.[embedded content]