This Medway group are quite a brutal bunch of souls; their live outings have been energetic and heavy as hell. This is their latest release, but if you are not conversant, than their motto is “beards, metal, F*ck You”. This kind of sums things up perfectly.
‘Poison Soul’ is groovy Kylesa driven sludge, actually, it has a similar feeling to that’s bands track “Scapegoat”. The drum fills are momentous as it the general power of the track. The mix is perfect, every instrument, voice and scream gets their moment and I really like the time change for the solo, a nice touch. ‘A False Peace” is a slow burning instrumental, but once past that ‘Cast Off The Cross’ is a further juggernaut enthralled by what I can only describe as the intensity that made Testament’s “The Gathering” album stand out, or perhaps The Forsaken’s ‘Manifest of Hate’. The double time drumming takes you to some black metal territory, whilst another section gets “tribal” on the drums. There is a splash of Tool, with some majestic instrumentation and time keeping, especially from the guitars. The resultant section that I am mentioning here results in an overload of emotion, emotive anger and power. Close your eyes and embrace the energy is my advice. I’m going to tip my hat to the drumming once again, they sound superb.
‘Black Lungs’ is an augmented dystopian mind assault; there is a real whirlwind present here. You gain typical Allfather carnage, but you are also rewarded with controlled chaos. ‘Take Their Eyes’ is another of the lead tracks if you take a wander over to Bandcamp. Its sludge heavy, haunting and rather emotive, which is a real take away from this release. The lead tracks online do not display the full wealth of ‘A Violent Truth’, so I heartily recommend you get the full release. You haven’t heard the full behemoth yet, but when you do you’ll know. You will nod your head in appreciation and add to the motto “beards, metal, F*ck You (with a sledgehammer). This is a momentous energetic release, if you are not too exhausted, go out and support the band. They are serious.
(9/10 Paul Maddison)
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