A new name to me, but this German gang had a debut album out in 2019 and this five track EP is a follow up. It was described as thrash/groove metal. So of course it isn’t. Opener, the title song, has slow build and a ponderous pace that reeks of black/death. A solid chugging beat that rises up into a kind of Amon Amarth melodeth riff. It’s pretty good, a nice feel to the refrain but maybe at nearly seven minutes could have been trimmed.
Good start though.
‘Das Ritual’ kinda begins the same but with a more straightforward metal feel to the guitar. It does pick up pace considerably and ploughs into that Viking melodeath feel again before dropping back to the chug; a pattern it repeats for seven minutes. Again its a little overlong for the content to me and if I’m honest doesn’t really hold the attention. Its ok, a fair heft, but just doesn’t excite me.
And then a little joy! The under four minutes of ‘Schwarze Wite’ is a gnarly bit of blackened thrash, some surprising female vocals thrown in with the normal growling and a nicely paced riff that really does the business. Much more like it.
‘Seelensterben’ goes back to the first two tracks in both length and pace. It does however have a much more black n roll feel spliced to a very heavy metal lead break. Kinda gang vocals keep the interest too, a nice change up. Still too long for the content for me though.
Finally, ‘Kathedrale Der Angst’ a shorter chuggy number which again is merely ok but at least not too long.
Um. I dunno. This has the feel of a couple of other EPs I’ve heard in the past where so early in their development you can feel two sides kind of locking up like wrestlers to figure the direction of the band. There’s nothing particularly bad here but three of the five tracks do not justify their length turning potentially good tracks into just ok, and they just seem to have more hooks and life when they press down on the thrashy pedal.
Ah it’s ok but too early to really be able to get a good look at where this band want to be.
(5/10 Gizmo)
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