#183 Vindicator - United We Fall

Perhaps among the unsung heroes of the thrash-revival movement, Vindicator have been making albums at quite a stalwart pace since their début, and United We Fall, the bands third album, is fresh off the press, on a new label, Slaney records. Apparently someone went back in time and killed Heavy Artillery Records' grandparents, because all trace of their previous label is gone.

In addition to having a fairly epic name, the bands much is an enjoyable listen too - For the most part thrash metal of a particularly intense style; uncompromisingly angry and traditional, with a notable amount of open-string work, even for thrash - much like the band's peers Evile. In terms of influences, I can hear a lot going on in the music - bits of Megadeth, Testament, and most of the "greats" of eighties-thrash. Vindicator manage, mostly, to avoid being simply re-hashed retro thrash however, and they certainly have some twists and turns of their own to boast, and the band have an atmosphere and tone which certainly distinguishes them from others. The machine-gun, heavily rhyming vocals give the music a real driving force, extremely manic feel, especially in the faster sections, and a catchy edge. The album was certainly beginning to settle into memory after just one listen. The vocals are enjoyably traditional too, quintessential thrash vocals, for the most part neither quite sung nor growled, but at the same time encapsulating the explosive energy the band seems to have. I've listened to many of the newer thrash bands, and upon listening to Vindicator, I could really feel the energy, which many of the bands, while equal in tempo and sometimes ferocity, didn't have.

The album as a whole has some really tasty riffs interspersed through it. Some of them, you have to look for a bit, or only become apparent with familiarity, but a lot of them are unapologetically obvious, and really enjoyable - the album manages to let you hear what's going on in it reasonably well, despite being a whirlwind of speed. You can tell that Vindicator are a band who really care about solos too - The ones in the album, often very competent and notable, feel like a lot of consideration has gone into crafting them - they're not just thrown into the songs, but they really work, and listening to them really takes me back to the days when solos were my favourite thing in music. The albums overall production is interesting - it's odd in a way I can't quite pinpoint, but not badly so - the guitars sound very metallic, to the point that I can almost taste iron upon listening. This isn't an unpleasant tone, especially after a couple of listens. In fact, it's a nice change from the default modern production, albeit not so terribly removed from it - especially the drums, which are certainly well polished, but not so much as to be plastic. All in all, the production is nicely all rounded, and really capture the ferocity with which the album utterly flies along.

Vindicator are, I feel, a thrash-band who deserve attention. This album is certainly a step towards that attention, and the third album is certainly a milestone in any band's career. This one in particular feels very complete, and very solid.

It's a 8/10 from me.

Links:
Vindicator Official Site
Vindicator on Bandcamp
Vindicator on Myspace
Vindicator on Facebook
Vindicator on Metal Archives

#182 Dragged into Sunlight - Hatred for Mankind

I've been meaning to review Dragged into Sunlight for quite some time. What stood in the way was, that until a few weeks ago, I'd forgotten completely what they were called. That setback now overcome, it feels like a good time to review it. The band are one of those band's which I find hard to classify, and, in my experience, that tends to be a good sign. I'll tentatively call them "death metal with a bit of everything"

You can't judge a book by it's cover, and the same goes for albums. However, beholding the twisted and evil artwork, I was certainly prepared for quite a sonic onslaught, which is exactly what I got. The tempo of the work may swing back and forth between rabid and doomy, but the album is very, very consistent in how dark and bloodcurdlingly crushing the it is, and it does an immensely good job of sonically ripping ones limbs out of their sockets, in the best possible way. As everyone knows, there is more than one way to be misanthropic, and Dragged into Sunlight certainly explore a few. On top of the enraged heaviness, there is often more subtle darkness, with sections which are heavily influenced by black-metal and doom-metal. The sum of all the styles incorporated reminds me somewhat of the "bestial black-metal" style of bands like Blasphemy, but I'd certainly not label DIS as such - while the raw-production, and often the evil-sounding, slightly muffled vocals, remind me a bit of the style, it is, at the same time, plain to see that the band doesn't quite fit into that category, which is, essentially, a good thing - certainly indicative of a pleasing uniqueness, or, at very least, definitely showing that I don't know enough about death-doom.

I don't exaggerate much when I say that Hatred for Mankind is one of the most dark and evil albums I've heard in a long time; The black-metal elements, evil tremolos and the like, add a layer of dark-shadow upon the low-fi, implosive, brooding riffing, which is dark-enough by itself, a looming wall of low-tone which sounds positively apocalyptic, and when the vocals become a screech instead of a growl, and the threatening spoken-word samples kick-in from time to time, the music transcends dark and enters the realm of evil, which is, I expect, exactly what the band aimed at. If so, this is a great example of a band making vision into reality. Production-wise, there is one touch I particularly like - the prominence of the drums. In a lot of fairly raw metal of this kind, it's quite normal for the drums to sound a bit muffled and blunt. Not so, in this album, where on top of being skilled, the drums are quite high in the mix, easily audible, often to the point of being in focus instead of trapped under other instruments, and bringing an interesting edge to the music, more piercing and, indeed, evil-sounding for it, the shrieking high-hat and cymbals something which many low-fi bands miss out upon.

I'm definitely going to include Dragged into Sunlight into my regular listening, and I can safely say that the band are on of the bands I'll be keeping an eye out for, both gigs and new releases. If you want an album unrelentingly dark and lethal, this is the album for you.

Definitely a 7/10, and probably an album which will get even better with time.

Links:
Dragged into Sunlight Official Site
Dragged into Sunlight on Myspace
Dragged into Sunlight on Facebook
Dragged into Sunlight on Metal Archives

#181 Jag Panzer - Ample Destruction

United States power metal, or USPM, is a niche within power-metal as a whole, and is stylistically different from it's European-born counterpart; Often less flowery, less synth-focused and with a tendency to considered closer to no-nonsense, balls-to-the-wall metal. The closing phrase of that sentence describes Jag Panzer's début, "Ample Destruction" nicely.

From what I know about USPM, which, like everything, is probably less than I should, Jag Panzer are a prime example - A little heavier than the heavy-metal which preceded it, but not too far removed from it. Ample Destruction, an undisputed, highly revered classic of the genre, seems to typify it quite well, even in a time before power-metal had a definite identity. Manly riffing, and a buzzing, slicing and utterly metal tone to it - the album is practically made of denim and leather, without being in the slightest bit over-the-top. The vocals range, but typically inhabit the mid-to-high range, much akin to the established, and indeed still flourishing NWOBHM. The vocals demonstrate plenty of vocal talent - powerful, honest sounding, and dominating the album's sound in many places, soaring above the other elements in the mix very prominently, often not seeming to fall victim to the somewhat rough production which flavours the rest of the album; perhaps, I feel, a little rougher than would have been best, but nonetheless fitting, both of the albums character, and of the character of USPM at the time - emphasising the rough-cut nature of the music, in comparison with the tidy, shiny European brand of the style, which was already starting to be assembled out of fairy-dust and dragon pubes across the Atlantic.

The album is one which takes a bit of listening to enjoy fully the elements hiding below the surface. On the second listen, I found myself finding extremely enjoyable and catchy hooks, sections, riffs, and a whole cohesiveness to the whole album; it seemed a little shaky on the first listen, but on the second if seemed to have foundations of iron. This left wondering how on earth I'd missed these things the first time around. It's just one of those albums. I wouldn't quite call it a "grower" but it definitely can't be taken-in in a single run-through. I always have a pleasant experience to listen to an album with real solidity to it, and I can certainly sense that in this one. Maybe not quite what the frequent hundered-percent ratings lead me to expect, but damn near; a nice-tasting piece of work. Certainly good enough to forgive the band taking ten-years to produce a second album, which apparently nobody liked, when the début's quality is coupled with the fact that, until they split-up in 2011, many of their albums were of a similarly high calibre to the début. All in all, to overuse that phrase to death, the album certainly warrants it's classic status.

If you could distil an album and put it in a bottle, Ample Destruction would be the antidote to plastic, over-produced modern metal; I often say it, but with this album especially, this is what metal is all about!

This is a 9/10.

Links:
Jag Panzer Official Site
Jag Panzer on Myspace
Jag Panzer on Facebook
Jag Panzer on Metal Archives