Saturday, May 10, 2014

Chugger "Scars"



Chugger are one of David Dahl from melodic Swedish death metal band,  Taketh's other bands.  You remember Taketh?  We reviewed them here.

Chugger are also in the melodic death vein although groove metal also chugs within their engines. The band won't be for those that run a while from melody and clean singing. The band get the toes tapping and the heads banging with "Bleed" which contains a huge groove metal underbelly.  Chugger are more about rocking out than entering into the most brutal of all contest.

 The song "In Vain" has a lot of proper melodic singing instead of just grunting.  The grunts are more present on "C.U.N.T" although at the beginning of the song they duel with clean vocals but end up winning and the band have a crunching metal sound which moves a long to a steady beat and the death vocals take proceedings to an angrier level.  There's a clean guitar sound also dueling with a far dirtier tone and there's no telling who the winner is even after the song ends.

Despite there being guitar riffs and solos that a listener will go back to for further listens, other than the cleanly sung parts most of the five songs really aren't all that catchy. By the way, are five songs on a release an album or an EP these days?  "Scars" is an enjoyable release.  It is bizarre to me that the band state on their bandcamp site that their music can be described as thrash metal as I just don't hear anything from the  thrash metal era in their sound.

3/5


Chugger's band website



Chugger on facebook

Friday, May 9, 2014

Septekh "Plan for World Domination



  After listening to the complaints about their EP's being too short Septekh have released their highly anticipated debut album.  It's clear from the onset that the band will get the death label from a multitude of metal reviewers due to the chosen vocal delivery. Let's just say that the death and roll label is the most fitting although the band utitlize a potpourri of metallic goodness.

The initial song "Into the Void of My Mind"  brings Asphyx to mind and the vocals throughout a very much in this style.  The tempo here is breakneck speed with guitar solos flashing back to the time of the NWOBHM.  "Saving Graces" carries a heavy dose of Iron Maiden and if you consider this to be bad then you really should make an appointment with a medical practitioner as soon as possible.  There's a primitive down and dirty feel to the two and a half minutes of "Neanderthal".



Although the vocals are mainly death growls, there are near spoken/half shouted parts in "Fuck Dollar" and "Don Asshole" which bring to mind the nutty street preacher who tries to save souls by using words.  Septekh's mission is easier to achieve as it is to rock your soul and then knock it around.  Septekh mesh sounds together that really shouldn't go together.  The best example of this is "Eyes of the Grave" which contains a couple of snippets from "Eye of the Tiger" and borrows beats and riffs from Twisted Sister's "Burn in Hell".  The title track borrows more than just it's length from Maiden and early Metallica.The song is just short of eleven minutes.  There's a lot of riffing here that comes from both bands and some of the more thrash style drumming is very much in "Kill 'Em All" vein. There's a chaotic punked-up feel whenever Septekh speed up the tempo.  
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There might be complaints from afar that the album, "Plan for World Domination" is too long clocking in it at sixty minutes.  No such complaint is going to come from these quarters as every listen has seemed less than an hour as the album is enjoyable and there are still sounds from the past to be discovered within.  It's clear from the album title that Septekh are looking forward.  Let's all look forward together to hearing more from this band.

4.5/5

Septekh website

Septekh on facebook







Sunday, May 4, 2014

Running Death "The Call of Extinction"

 

The thrash metal revival has been going on for some time now.  Unlike the first wave of thrash where the bands that stood head and shoulders above the rest only came from the United States, a few
U.K bands are on equal footing with their American counterparts.  In the early days of thrash metal, German bands such as Kreator, Sodom and Holy Moses were giving the American bands a run for the money and a much stronger force than anything from the UK.  The likes of Xentrix and Slammer were relegated to second tier for a good reason, that's exactly what those bands were.




German band Running Death are very much part of the new thrash movement.  The band are more influenced by 80's Bay Area bands than those from their own country.  On the first few vocals of Simon Bihlmayer sound like a young James Hetfield on a sick day.   You just wish he'd have a good rest, take medicine and avoid sneezing anywhere close to your proximity.

The drumming is standard meat and potatoes thrash metal fare rather than an attempt to rival Lombardo.  The guitar rhythms however are a different story although they borrow heavily from early Metallica and Testament.  Just before the two minute mark of  "Celebrate Your Aggression", the vocals sound exactly like James Hetfield which fits the music like a glove because it too sounds like early Metallica however the band pick up tempo and the vocalist growls a call to arms "Celebrate your aggression against those bastards" and doesn't sound like he's auditioning for a role on Sesame Street and he shines when he actually comes across as aggressive.  "Hunting for Heads" has early Testament all over it but even given the lack of originality that's still a plus point.

The more aggressive vocals drive the final two songs on this five song EP and Running Death finish on a strong note.  Stronger vocals and maybe more prominent drumming throughout the release would have raised the bar and maybe have these guys sitting pretty alongside the likes of Havok, Warbringer and Toxic Holocaust.



2.5/5


Listen to this album here.


Running Death on facebook


Beastwars - IV

After over a year off for various reasons, we have returned solely because we wanted to review the new Beastwars album. I really w...