One of the industry’s most underrated and yet influential thrash titans of the late 80’s/early 90’s era of metal were Pennsylvania’s Believer, who after a decade of being absent from the frontlines have returned with what is undeniably their strongest effort to date. Continuing to stretch the imagination further than ever before, they have released an album that is equally experimental (as is their way) and set in stone in relation to their straightforward thrash roots. Shrouded in mystery and intellectually challenging, Gabriel is most definitely a primary contender for 2009’s Metal album of the year. I recently had the immense pleasure of speaking with frontman and co-founder Kurt Bachman in regard to the bands triumphant return, criticisms about their beliefs, working with Howard Jones of Killswitch Engage fame as well as their expectations of what is to come, including whether the band will actually ever tour being that they only ever toured the U.S. coast to coast once since their inception.