Scorn are a band from France who formed rather recently (2021) and seem to be wasting no time in getting into gear and putting their work out there. Primarily described as a Thrash metal act with some death metal influences, the band feels more like a thrash/metalcore hybrid with their sound and delivery. Musically, with their name, you can expect tracks which are laden in anger and all the darker aspects of humanity, so let’s get on with it.

“Let Me See Your Blood” opens up with a twisting riff, raw growls and bursts of drums before the thrash currents kick in and things quickly escalate to a full-on riff assault. The tight rhythmic style combined with the pounding grooves and furious vocal delivery gives the track an air of the mid-late 2000’s metalcore inspired scene a la Lamb Of God and Devildriver, two bands who know how to deliver an intense and heavy musical performance. “Resilient” keeps this thrash/metalcore approach up, blending tricky riffs and blistering paced musical attacks to compound the heaviness. Slick transitions from buzzing pedal tone riffs to pounding chord grooves keep the heaviness and momentum going and the vocals have a commanding presence. There’s also a pretty slick mini-shred lead too, delivered in the right place to help augment the intensity of the track. Like it or not, this track will have you wanting to (as a bare minimum) nod along to its huge rhythmic groove.

“Dripping Veins” is more of the same. A decent paced, imposing musical attack which pulls no punches. With a much sharper edge to its delivery, due in part to the faster tempo, it combines furious drum and riff blasts with a stomping groove loaded with attitude and the rawness of the vocal growling certainly adds to the overall intensity of the song. Even the brief flashes of lead guitar work are cutting. The slick shred and twisting fills are executed cleanly and don’t distract from the overall air of the music. “Scorn” is a pointless filler track which basically consists of quick riffs, angular fills and the shouting of Scorn for the best part of 13 seconds. Musical masterpiece ‘You Suffer’ by Napalm Death this is not!

“Winds of Torment” is up next and it’s building intro quickly shifts into a solid rhythm attack on the signal of a massive vocal roar. It quickly picks up the pace and intensity, layering rapid fire thrash riffs with massively thick chords to add weight whilst the solid rhythm section does its thing. The twisting melodic riff brings hints of Soilwork to the sound and the smoothly flowing sweep arpeggio lead emphasises this brief flash of melodic death metal influence in the sound. “Despondency” has a heavy and lumbering feel to begin with. Slower paced, the descending riff emphasises the lower register notes, the drums are full of deliberate cymbal crashes and cascading rolls whilst the bass carries an ominous melody which pipes up between its duties of emphasising the low register notes. A slow and lumbering beast in the verse, the raw vocal growls tell a good story before it picks up in the chorus with a gallop chug and a bit of liveliness in the sound before it cuts back to the ominous chug verse. The track isn’t special by any means but it is executed well and with precision, giving it a solid base and displaying some fantastic atmospheric work and making it one of the heavier moments of this album.

“The Urge To Kill” is pretty much thrash laden metalcore. Solid rhythm work, tight fills and a pulsing riff current which demands bodies moving and heads banging. “Deathstroke” is similar in this respect too. Though it is faster paced, the basic head banging riff attack is the core of the track no matter how much it is dressed up with intricate lead melodies which are delivered with precision, or no matter how fast the riffs are before the slow down sections kick in, it is simply solid metalcore with an emphasis on the heavy side of things. “The Horde” leans more into the thrash side of things initially with its dissonant riff and bursts of double kick but the metalcore quickly takes centre stage as it shifts into a harmonic laden break down feel which (to its credit) is a pretty imposing section delivered with ferocity. Other than that, it seems that the album loses a lot of momentum round the later stages.

“Sentenced To Live” closes the album and luckily for the listener, it seems to rediscover its spark from the earlier tracks. With what seems to be a renewed sense of urgency, the thrash spirit inhabiting this band kicks things to life, waking the band up and inspiring a livelier performance. Rapid bursts of drums and riff give way to low-tuned dissonant lingering sections which are backed by tremendous double kick sections and intense vocal roarings. It’s more in line with the first half of the release which was certainly stronger and it serves as a good end to an otherwise average album.

On the whole, “Winds Of Torment” is something we have gotten used to since the turn of the millennium. That is not to say metalcore is generic or average, more that it is simply something plenty of bands have done before, made to sound good and simply delivered it in a better way which has enabled them to get longevity out of this approach. Scorn are a tight band and the musicianship is superb, it just needs more of a spark to make them stand out.

(6.5/10 Fraggle)

https://www.facebook.com/scornthrash

https://greatdanerecords.bandcamp.com/album/winds-of-torment