‘Turn off the world’ is the third album by The Very End, a quintet from the Ruhr region in Germany. Stylistically, they are a German thrash band with some ultra-fast drumming by Daniel Zeman matched by René Bogdanski and Alex Bartkowski’s guitar riffs and filled out by Marc Beste on the bass. The vocals used by Björn Gooßes range from powerful thrash singing to some hardcore tinted shouting but tempered by his ability to sing melodically on the slower tracks.
Opening track “Splinters” starts off with a hearty German ‘Eins, zwei, drei, vier’ and has me wondering if the lyrics are going to be in German, but as the next line is ‘the very end is here’, I figure they aren’t and appreciate the harshness of the intro count all the more.”Iron Sky” goes from heavy and fast to a complete standstill with a beautifully played lead solo over a very subdued rhythm and flowing drum rolls ’til the vocals kick back in and lift the song back to its heavier beginnings.A catchy drum rhythm accompanied by technical leads on “Infidel” work well with the vocals alternating from heavy to clean to suit the music.”The Black Fix” has Entombed’s LG Petrov doing guest death vocals which suit the faster, heavier guitars perfectly, while Björn’s more melodic approach compliments the mellow bridges.
As for mellow, “Maelstrom Calling” is exactly that, wringing out an emotional vocal delivery over the rather melancholy guitar breaks. The yell of “Sixes And Nines” is full of anguish, while the chorus is belted out in an almost heartfelt manner over the non-stop drum blast. “The Last Mile” again combines blistering drum blasts with more melodic guitar harmonies, forcing the vocals to range from slow clean to hurried screams and shouts depending on the tempo at the time.”Dreadnought” on the other hand is up-tempo for its duration, even when the vocals drop to a harmonious chorus, while “Gravity” is firmly rooted in old school German thrash sensibilities with a heady groove and head banging rhythm. Keeping you head-banging, the solid drumming on “Orphans Of Emptiness” drives you towards the final track “To Feed On Hope” which has Björn singing melodically over some intricate guitar changes and leads.
All in all, a really enjoyable thrash album by a great band. If you enjoy thrash, you should definitely enjoy this.
(6/10 – Marco Gaminara)
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