Reviews: Burner, Consecration, Denied, Drive At Night (Reviews By Zak Skane, Matt Cook, Matt Bladen & Finn O'Dell)

Burner – Vision Of The End (Church Road Records) [Zak Skane]

We being our journey of grotesqueness with Ingsoc, greeting us with it’s razor sharp feedback and grinding Sabbath style guitar riffs before we get swallowed into the void with the sonic pounding of double kick and blast beat driven drums grooves combined with the wall of low end. Nothing But War continues the sonic assault with the ensemble coming in with all guns blazing with the singer continuing to sound vicious with every lyric he puts out. The stab chords are with razor sharp precision added to the chaotic void, which this band produced.

Death Worship take us down a more playful route with the oddly placed stab chords making us reminisce of golden era mathcore of the likes of Dillinger and Every Time I Die. A Vision Of The End takes us on a six-minute journey through sludge coated hardcore ingested with shrouds of black metal atmosphere and the final closers Siege Fire and Rat King Crown still keep up intensity throwing some groovy hard rock style riffs to keep it fresh. This six track album keeps it intensity through start to finish, those buzz saw guitars have a great balance of raw aggression and professional clarity and the energy degenerated from the singer and the drummer keep this six track interesting from beginning to end. 9/10.

Consecration – Cinis (Redefining Darkness Records) [Matt Cook]

There is Jim Beam or Evan Williams. Grey Goose or Burnett’s. Kraken or Admiral Nelson's. In other words, there is poster-child consistency or generic, run-of-the-mill cheap muck. Consecration is to Death/Doom as Jameson is to Irish whiskey: textbook greatness. The pinnacle. The For Dummies guidebook. If vintage Thrash Metal is what you yearn for, Slayer and Metallica have you covered. Death/Doom is your calling? Thrust Consecration into that discussion, because these lads are rewriting the book. 

The UK-based quintet have compiled (if you couldn’t guess by now) a how-to when it comes to the genre – gurgling grunts aided by a slogging-yet-effective pace enshrouded in a roller coaster through misery and dense despair. Cinis is the equivalent of ordering steak and eggs for brunch and being given a plate overflowing with equal parts meat and protein. The best of both worlds. Having the cake and being able to eat it. Despite the widely varying song lengths, this record is Death/Doom 101. Daniel Bollans’s vocals become dirtier as the album materializes, aging like a fine wine. What stood out most early on was the full-bodied drums courtesy of Jorge Figueiredo. 

To say they pop would be a cliched understatement; the kit towers over the rhythm section, flaunting its imposing will and death-defying heft. In appropriate Death/Doom spirit, the instrumentations are sparse and mild, in the most complimentary of ways. Unto The Earth Bethralled simulates walking through a jungle of fluff with its masterful pacing. A Sentient Haunting is gracious in its melancholy; The Charnel House acts as the audio evidence of Bollans taking part in a swallow-a-razor-and-try-to-sing challenge that assuredly has found its way onto Tik-Tok by now. Cinis simultaneously embodies a first-time listener’s aide and a die hard’s pillar of appreciation. 

It’s nearly impossible to criticize the work because it feels like calling out a triple-degreed university professor who has spent a decade in their respective field of expertise. Better to just sit down and absorb it all. 8/10

Denied - Humanarchy (Sweea Records) [Matt Bladen]

Melothrash? Heavy power? I'm undecided what to call this sixth album from Swedish/Danish band Denied, but one thing you can call it is impressive. With flashes of Annihilator, Testament, Judas Priest and Grave Digger, Humanarchy is packed with frenzied riffing, blistering solos and bags of melody. The thunderous boiler room of bassist Freddan Thörnblom and drummer Markus Kask can blast away with joy but also bring emotion to the slower track Don't Cross That Line. Opening twosome Divided and Death By A Thousand Cuts are in the trad metal sound, the latter feeling like some tough US styled power metal with a punchy riff and sing along chorus. Things get heavier with the title track which sees Andreas Carlsson and Chris Vowden (ex-Opeth) grind out a groove metal riffs, Vowden also having some tasty solos/leads. 

Fredrik Folkare's keys add something similar to the Halford/Tim Ripper Owens solo records. Folkare is a special guest on the record but adds to the more melodic parts of Humanarchy, Don't Cross That Line the most melodic song here. Unlike with so many thrash bands Soren Adamsen's (ex-Artillery) vocals are wide ranging, with higher register screams and snarling lows he's got similarities to both The Ripper and Chuck Billy, showcasing his full range on Maintenance Of Insanity, a song that feels like Youthanasia-era Megadeth. Ten Ton Hammer Of Pain brings back the heavy, Ties Of Blood bringing symphonic and industrial elements right at the end. Humanarchy is a great slab of power thrash metal, the viciousness of thrash and the melody of power/trad are balanced well across 8 tracks making for an exciting heavy metal record. 8/10

Drive At Night - Echoes Of An Era (Pride & Joy Music) [Finn O'Dell]

Here we have another attempt to recreate music from arguably the best decade in music - the 80's. Drive At Night started out last year as a 2 man project of Joachim Nordlund (Astral Doors) and Johan Lindstedt (SunStrike) to create music honoring some of their influences. Let's see how it measures up. The 80's Calling starts this off with the band reminiscing the decade they clearly are inspired by (love it). The Youth Of Today is a stadium anthem rocker of the highest degree. Partners In Crime tells the story of a couple in strong 80's rock style. Weekend Fun is another party oriented banger. Endless Kind Of Love takes a swing at a More Than Words type ballad, but sadly misses. One bounces back with more of a radio rock feel. 

Wake Up ramps up the riffs. King Of Kings, not too surprisingly, is all about being the best - a conqueror anthem. Wild In The Streets reminds me of Summertime Girls by Y&T (not a bad thing at all). Time falls back to mainstream radio rock mode. High Enough shows more grit until the chorus kicks in. United wraps up this album giving us more hard rock, but slower than most. Overall, a great palate cleanser to get me back to the sound that first hook me back in the day. Vocals here are perfect and musically this is solid stuff. One of the better things I have heard lately. 8/10