For me, hearing the band name Loudblast takes me back to the 00s and the French metal magazines, in which they featured. In fact this death metal band has been releasing albums since 1987, and is now on its ninth. Lead member Stéphane Buriez’s description of the latest one can broadly be summarised as music without rules, while recognising that the material is “pretty old-school”, as you might expect. One thing for sure is that there is masses of experience in this band.

Old school is what it is. Here we have driving, melodic death metal with hard riffs and nice twists and solos. Oh, and properly growled vocals. There’s plenty going on. “From Beyond II (The Return)” opens the album and demonstrates all these qualities. Now the trick is to distinguish between the songs. “Putrid Age of Decay” is lower down the scale and darker but is still forward-driving and melodically dynamic, with flamboyance not only in the guitar work but in the song structure. It may be the putrid age of decay but it’s fun. “Crystal Skin” has an element of black metal in the pounding riff. Loudblast play with sound effects while the instrumentals and vocals seek to drag us into the ground. This song has a mixture of quirkiness and pure power. “Miserable Failure” takes us back to death metal but with a rapid-fire melodic delivery. At a stroke it switches down a gear before taking off in another direction.

Loudblast gave great control of direction and tempo, resulting in songs which ooze character. “He Who Slumbers” has an element of Hypocrisy about it in its deliberate line of attack and menacing catchiness. We then enter horror movie territory for the opening of “Son of Nameless Mist”. Expertly, the tempo builds up, stops and picks up. All the while there is an atmosphere of foreboding in the sound. The riff is hard and uncompromising. Each song has its own identity, while sharing the characteristics I listed at the top of this paragraph. It’s death metal, it’s direct and each song follows a path with occasional deviations and quirks, supporting Stéphane Buriez’s comment that Loudblast follow their own rules. They do, within the broader framework of death metal. Walls sometimes come crashing down, as they do in “Cursed and Veiled”. Loudblast are good at menace too, and end “Cursed and Veiled” with a bit of cyber menace. Some are slabs and even anthemic – “Fortress” is a case in point. “Glint of Sunlight” and “The Path To the End” hit us with their relentless death metal. It’s like songs for the chain gang. “The Path To The End” does have a nice quirky twist in the middle and solo towards the end. After twelve solid pieces full of individual death metal statements, “Forbidden Pleasure” brings us to a close. It’s a colourful blast, but then so is the whole album in its different ways.

“Altering Fates and Destinies” is a top-quality metal album from an experienced band. There’s no dust to be shaken off. Loudblast know how to create great and interesting songs, and make them appealing.

(8.5/10 Andrew Doherty)

https://www.facebook.com/Loudblast.official

https://listenable-records.bandcamp.com/album/altering-fates-and-destinies