#216 Hellcannon - Infected with Violence

It often takes me a while to think about what to review next, and for most of today, I had no idea at all what I would do. Fortunately, I remembered randomly discovering a thrash band called Hellcannon earlier in the year, and meaning to review them. I'd been reviewing a lot of thrash bands at the time though, and felt I should leave it for a while so there would be a degree of balance in the genres I review. I noticed to day that I've not reviewed any thrash this month. I listened to the album, and now, whilst listening again, I feel the time has come to review it.

Hellcannon aren't a name I'd heard before in the thrash-metal world, so I had no idea what to expect. After a brief clean-intro, which left me thinking "this could turn out to be any kind of thrash at all", a powerful, Slayer-esque rolling riff viciously kicked the album into action; Hellcannon take their influence from the darker, more bloody side of the thrash metal coin, which is good to see, although I should certainly have predicted it from the Sarcofago style band logo. The music is darker, dirtier and has considerably sharper teeth than most of the rather pedestrian, traditional-sounding thrash-revival acts, with buzzing, ripping riffs with an unpolished tone reminiscent of Toxic Holocaust, Sodom, or indeed any band who opts for bare-metal, grease and rust covered production; not raw, by any means, but certainly with plenty of the beast left in, which is further emphasised by the rasping, black-thrash style vocals certainly make the bands allegiance with the dark-side known, with a harsh, but also ballsy and angry vocal style which fits in rather well with the general direction which the album takes. Indeed the direction is very definite, too, which is a good thing to see a relatively new band doing; They appear to know what their sound is, and where it's going, and the whole album is consistent, well-structured, and seems to be thought through somewhat. It's also near-enough the perfect length for a particularly intense thrash album, at least in my book - just over thirty-minutes.

Whilst gritty, Hellcannon seem to incorporate many of the less dark elements of thrash too - quite tastefully. There is the occasional riff which has a more traditional mood, composed of chunky, energetic bay-area style chords, and some very competent and highlighted solos (The one in Act of Violence is great), as opposed to the general roaring bloodlust, tremolos, and generally evil sounding guitar witchcraft, although the latter element  has a fairly large share of the albums sound.  Not to the extent to render the album an actual black-thrash work, perhaps - Hellcannon seem more a thrash band with a hint of churning chaos and darkness; The two bands I'm most reminded of by their sound are probably Toxic Holocaust and Slayer, the former for the combination of darkness and at times conventional guitar work, and the latter for both the guitar tone and the chaotic elements. One of the things I enjoyed about the album a lot, or indeed any album which does so, is the combination of demonic but also of human themes; supernatural songs go hand in hand with more human material, in a pleasing mixture which while consistently dark, is also diverse to a decent extent. Perhaps the band aren't taking the dark, caustic thrash sound anywhere especially new or uncharted, but as thrash-revival bands go, there's little doubt in my mind that they're a cut above the crowd, and what's more, the album is well written makes for a very complete feeling listen.

The albums artwork does a very good job of explaining what it's about, which is something I've always taken to be the mark of a good album. All in all, this is indeed a good album, and while to an extent it's been done before, not many bands have done it quite as well as Hellcannon.

I'm giving this 7/10.

Links:
Hellcannon on Facebook
Hellcannon on Myspace
Hellcannon on Metal Archives

#215 Immortal - Pure Holocaust

I've been listening to black metal for years now, and I've explored many of it's aspects, through both well known and barely heard-of bands, but, and this will sound odd to you, I've never actually listened to any Immortal. In all probability, this is something which I should rectify, and do so with great haste, which is why, today, I decided to take a look at "Pure Holocaust", the band's second album.

I can't really pinpoint a particular reason why I've never listened to Immortal before; I didn't even know what the music was going to sound like at all before I listened to the album, in fact.  Some things didn't surprise me, of course; The classic and very much old-school sound, especially on the drums, sound the epitome of early second-wave black-metal, albeit on occasion sounding like a flag flapping in a gale. Fortunately, the clatter of the percussion works well for it's raw context. The rawness, might I add, was greater  than I was expecting; I had somehow anticipated Immortal to sound quite smooth and refined, but it seems that the hiss of treble and wall of grim, cold noise much more pronounced than even the average black-metal of the time. Peeking from behind this, perhaps muffled to the point of requiring a level of concentration whilst listening, the riffs seemed to be very formidable - austere and very Norse sounding, which is the way I like my black-metal to be. Immortal may well, indeed, be one of the coldest, most icy black-metal bands I've run into in a while, which more emphasises the point that, on failing to listen to Immortal when first discovering the genre, I may well have missed some crucial musical education.

I found it an interesting activity, listening to something so sharp and cold - In a way, it was immediately appreciable that Immortal are quite unlike their peers; Without the orchestral and synth based elements of Enslaved or Emperor, colder than the comparatively warm rawness of Darkthrone, and lacking in the overtly occult feel of Mayhem. Immortal seem to be equipped with a majesty in their sound, soaring and riding through the music, that the others don't have in quite the same way; the riffs undulate and the crisp shrieks of Abbath really sets the music apart. I'm not saying I instantly prefer it, but I certainly find it to be noticeably different from the off; many of the nuances of black-metal are present, and done in a really quintessential manner, but in all probability, a lot of these were being set by Immortal, not followed; Pure Holocaust was released before both In The Nightside Eclipse, and De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas, the two albums which it reminds me most thoroughly of, which I think really says something about Immortals significance to what we know as black-metal today. It probably suggests that I should have listened to them sooner.

Once again, a band I've never listened to before turn out to be great; That's probably one of the things I love most about metal - the pleasant surprises and the sheer numbers of bands which are out there waiting to be listened to. I can safely say I'll probably be listening to Immortal again.

This is a classic, of course; 8/10.

Links:
Immortal Official Site
Immortal on Facebook
Immortal on Myspace
Immortal on Metal Archives

#214 Razorwyre - Another Dimension

I've been a fan of Razorwyre's speed-metal antics for a while now, and I think I can safely say that their "Coming Out" EP is one of my all time favorite EPs. Consequently, I've been looking forward to the long-awaited full-length album for a while, and from the moment I found out that it had been released, I knew I'd be listening and reviewing imminently.

Sometimes, it can be a very good thing when a band follow up their previous work with "more of the same". Considering that this album does so, containing forty-five minutes of the same gritty, unpolished and thrashy speed-metal goodness which made me so enjoy the EP, I think its safe to say that this is such an instance. The songs contain the same spirit and good-old chunkiness, which is something it would be a great shame for the band to depart from, and the album certainly retains the catchy, ballsy and not-too-deadly-serious feel which the EP had. A little more refined, neat and adventurous, but at the same time notably consistent. One of the things which pleases me most, however, is that the band still sound as raucous as ever; some albums simply "feel" closer to live-material than others, and Another Dimension feels "alive", let alone simply "live" - there's a lot of passion and earthy, fist-pumping musicianship and energy, and not too much obsession with a smooth, "perfect" finish on the album's production, which renders the whole thing superbly real. The whole album captures and exudes the essence of the phrase "Fuck yeah", with an infections, speedy energy which few bands seem to compete with them on.

When I describe the album as "More of the same", Its probably worth mentioning that I don't mean the band haven't developed; The playing is tighter, more flexible and more intricate than ever before, but not in a way which changes the fundamental idea of what the band do, and have always done well. It's more that they are simply a honing and embellishing it. For me, the EP seemed to be about the tasty riffs and absurdly memorable hooks, and that's precisely what the album has too. There are increases in other areas, however; The lead guitar seems to be more fluid and indeed more present, and there are certainly more moments in which the lead guitar defines the path of a song, leading to a measure of both epic-atmosphere in places, some kick-ass and thoroughly memorable solos, and even more catchiness served all-round, without spoiling the music's raw and rough feel by making it seem pretentious or deliberately complicated. The album may be more more complex, but it's not any less filled with honest, down to earth and well-written music - I find that Razorwyre are the musical equivalent of a steak-pie; You know that it;s going to be reliable, and you know what it's going to be like - it'll really hit the spot, with no unexpected wankery.


A band like Razorwyre are the kind of band which could re-kindle anyone's faith in the old-school, but their music certainly isn't stale; This album is easily as good as their EP, and I would recommend it to anyone who likes speed-metal, thrash, or just plain old traditional metal. As far as I can tell, Razorwyre are one of my favourite exports from New Zealand.

This is certainly 9/10.

Links:
Razorwyre Official Site
Razorwyre on Facebook
Razorwyre on Myspace
Razorwyre on Metal Archives