RingMaster Reviews Interviews – Terraborn

Apr18

Pic by Greig Clifford

For those who may not know who you are, introduce yourselves quickly.

Terraborn (Melodic Death Metal) based in Sussex, UK

Describe your sound in as few words as possible.

Post-Apocalyptic Soundtrack of Destruction.

Who are your three biggest influences as a band?

Lamb of God, Pantera, Parkway Drive

What’s the meaning behind your band name?

It means “Born of the Earth”. Mainly fitting in with the post-apocalyptic theme

How did you approach your latest release, the ‘Call to War’ EP, in terms of writing and recording?

Mainly through collaboration at home for the writing process with most of the music written by Dave (Guitars). All of the EP was recorded, mixed and edited by ourselves (with the exception of live drums) and fully self-produced using Andy (Guitars) home studio setup

Do you have any personal favourite songs on the release?

Our favourite tracks from the EP are the title track ‘Call to War’ and ‘Nations Wake’

Explain the meaning behind the title.

Call to War! – Rallying the troops for battle.

Describe the concept of the video.

Trying to bring the Chaos behind our live performances into a video…Lots of lights, glitches, flashing, sci-fi type feel!

How does it tie in with the themes around the song?

Yes, calling on our soldiers to join the cause and fight for survival

Was it fun to shoot or did it prove to be quite a challenge?

Very fun, with access to a lot of hi-tech kit, an array of 4K HD cameras, HUGE screens, crazy lighting rigs! – As with any video though when you have performed the song 100+ times it wears a little thin!!

Do you have any live dates lined up at present?

Friday 2nd August at the Facebar in Reading (Supporting Rammlied – Rammstein tribute), Friday 1st November at the Crown in Littlehampton (Headline)

What are your favourite songs to perform live?

‘Hypocrisy’, ‘Nations Wake’.

What are the best and worst shows you’ve played to date?

The Best: Mammothfest 2016, M2M final Brighton 2017. The Worst: The Hub Brighton (horrendous sound issues!!)

If you could open for anyone, who would it be?

Lamb of God

Any comical stories from your time as a band you can share with us?

A Seagull stealing, and swallowing whole our bass players battered sausage outside of Sticky Mikes in Brighton, and our Guitarist (Dave) having to run out of the car at traffic lights in a one way system approaching Reading as he needed to pee, for us only to realise afterwards he had left his phone in the Car and was subsequently lost in the middle of the City with no way for us to contact him!

What’s the plan for the rest of 2019?

Promoting our video release and continuing the writing process for our album which we hope to get into the studio to record later this year – with a few live shows thrown in to keep us on our toes of course!

https://www.facebook.com/terrabornband/

Questions by Elliot Leaver

UnHuman Insurrection – Equilibrium

Nov16

Hailing from Monselice in Italy, UnHuman Insurrection is a band we suggest you will be hearing a great deal more of and increasing praise for as their debut album reaches an increasing number of ears. Equilibrium offers up eights slabs of metal as broad in their flavouring as they are in their enterprise; a collection of songs which quite simply demand attention.

Rising from the ashes of Burn of Black, UnHuman Insurrection emerged in 2016, initially just going under the name UnHuman. Since their first steps on the Italian metal scene, the band has earned potent support and plaudits and gone on to share stages with the likes of Sabaton, Lacuna Coil, and Arch Enemy. Their sound is a tapestry of industrial, thrash, and melodic metal but has plenty more in its arsenal of enterprise to entice with; a mix well covered by inspirations to the band which include artists such as Testament, Fear Factory, Exodus, Lamb of God, Killswitch Engage, and Machine Head. As Equilibrium reveals, it is a blend which at times has familiarity to it and in other moments an individuality which can only flourish ahead.

The album’s title is a perfect echo to the band’s sound, a fusion of raw and imposing trespasses balanced with a melodic radiance and enterprise; that predation and seduction uniting and in full roar within opener, Primal Instinct. A sonic mist descends initially, its industrial chill quipped with an electronic pulse. Within this breath guitars connect their wires eventually coming to a head and charging through ears with a thrash driven eruption. The potent clean tones of vocalist Giacomo Cordioli rise within the midst of the growing web of temptation, his calm but tenacious presence courted by the aggressive swings of drummer Alberto Lemoni and the throaty dark growl of bass. Guitarists Matteo Theo Milani and Marco Markwild Piva wrap it all in a web of enterprise, melodic and aggression driven metal escaping their craft and imagination in a track which just captivates from start to finish.

The great start continues through Chasing Hope, it instantly grabbing ears with force and adventure as melodic tendrils vine the song’s immediate trespass upon the senses. Again Cordioli’s vocals come with a harmonic croon as powerful as it is radiant against the heavier darker climate of sound. Milani’s classic metal nurtured vines spring across the track’s growing adventure, the song epitomising that mix of the recognisable and inescapably fresh within its compelling grooving and tenacious adventure.

As strong and rousing as the first pair are, they are eclipsed by the album’s best track, Lobotomized. Straight away the song grips attention and appetite with its sonic nagging, teasing grooves which eventually turn primal as guitars and rhythms stalk the senses alongside increasingly rousing vocals. It is a galvanic edge which escalates in the track’s anthemic chorus; an essence giving an already imaginative encounter greater insistency and captivation as does the subsequent spirals of guitar, every twist and turn escalating the track’s magnificence.

Through the industrial climate of Shreds of Identities, another major highlight of the album atmospherically chilling and barbarously predatory, and the almost demonic realm of The Edge Of Nothing, the album went from strength to strength. The second of the two is an intriguing offering, a track which overall did not quite spark the same greed as its two predecessors yet every moment with it brought fresh imagination amidst unpredictable trespasses to enthral and increasingly impress.

The following Parasite instantly lived up to its title, the song leeching on the senses and imagination with its feral tides of death metal lined riffs and melodic breezes. Another song nagging submission to its lures whilst invading with technical and malevolent enterprise, it quickly declares its presence as another memorable pinnacle of the release, intimation matched by Buried Alive and its electro hued but equally carnivorous exploits. As all tracks though, its body is a lattice of flavours, textures, and contrasts which had us thoroughly gripped and pleasured.

Ashes And Dust brings the album to a close, it another which maybe did not quite excite as those around such their strengths, but left release and ears in an even stronger union. There are only reasons to recommend about Equilibrium and plenty of them, seemingly more and more emerging by the listen. UnHuman Insurrection maybe pretty much unknown beyond their homeland but most likely not for too much longer if their debut full-length is the sign of things to come.

http://www.unhumanband.com/ https://www.facebook.com/unhumaninsurrection/ https://twitter.com/unhumanband

Pete RingMaster 14/11/2018

Crushing landscapes with US metallers Backblast

May2

US outfit, Backblast, create a heavy metal roar embracing the flames of other styles and flavours. It is a proposition which is constantly growing and evolving as well as building on the success of the Manassas, VA hailing band’s well received debut EP, of 2015, The Area is Clear. We recently had the chance to get to the heart of the band with drummer Chris Tamberella, exploring its origins, growth, the band’s latest attention drawing release and more….

Can you first introduce the band and give us some background to how it all started?

We are a five piece metal band consisting of Dan Cunningham on vocals, Jake Ford on lead guitar, Adam Pritcher on rhythm guitar and backup vocals, Wilsen Rivera on bass and myself, Chris Tamberella on drums. In 2015 Dan and I, along with original guitarist Marcos Eguia, began recording tracks in Dan’s basement. After 6 months of writing and recording, we decided to bring the studio to the stage.

Had you been involved in other bands before?

Wilsen has been in a number of projects including Kaemon, Bourne of Ash, Greythor, Pandora’s Box, Sanguinus and some solo work on Wilsen’s Sessions. Dan was is a heavy metal band in Newport News, VA called Kaivol Motak who enjoyed local success. Jake was in a band for a few years in high school and since has filled in periodically for the Miami based band Inferion.

What inspired the band name?

The majority of our band members are military veterans and have experienced the back blast of an RPG before.

Was there any specific idea behind the forming of the band and also in what you wanted it and your sound to offer?

There was no specific sound that we targeted at first. We played what came naturally which was best described as rock. After recording The Area is Clear, we wanted to add more to our sound but didn’t know exactly what we were looking for. Enter Adam Pritcher and his heavy riffs and we were on our way to making metal songs. Since then we added Wilsen on bass which opened the doors for another evolution in the band with his ability and experience. The final piece to our sound is the addition of Jake Ford. Adding a lead guitar to our sound has provided more opportunities for growth and another evolution in our sound. With the addition of Jake we are steering in somewhat of a power and progressive metal sound. Who knows what we will create in the future.

Do the same things still drive the band when it was fresh-faced or have they evolved over time?

Our band has evolved in all aspects including what drives us now. As a band we want to push ourselves and churn out the best sound possible. That can only occur if we are all driven individually and as a unit. When we started in Dan’s basement we were messing around and seeing what came out. Right now we feel like the sky is the limit between the five of us and are excited for our next release and to continue bringing our brand of metal live on the east coast.

Has it been organic, especially the movement of sound or more the band deliberately wanting to try new things?

Everything that happens with our sound is organic and nothing is forced. We certainly want to try new things but we haven’t limited ourselves into what we are trying. If it feels right we move forward. If it’s clunky or not smooth than we move on to something else.

Presumably across the band there is a wide range of inspirations; are there any in particular which have impacted not only on the band’s music but your personal approach and ideas to creating and playing music?

With five guys in the band there are many different inspirations. We all share some of the same likes such as Black Sabbath, Dio, Lamb of God, Iced Earth but some of us like reggae, jazz, classical music, electronic music and more. For myself as a drummer I am inspired by Chris Adler of Lamb of God and Jimmy “The Rev” Sullivan of Avenged Sevenfold.

Is there a general process to the band’s songwriting?

Most of our songs are based off guitar riffs. Sometimes that riff is structured before it comes into the band room or it may just be a small riff that starts with a jam session and grows into a full track.

And lyrically, where do you draw the inspirations?

Past experience, current political climate and what happens inside Dan’s head (which could be scary).

Would you give us some background to your latest release?

Our latest release is a four song concept EP, The Ringmaster. It revolves around an evil entity “The Ringmaster” who has pulled in all the outsiders of society and placed them under his spell. He lures with them with the promise of hope and acceptance but his true motive is to create an army of minions. After realizing their fate those who have come under his power rise up to fight back. In this story the good guys just might not win.

Give us some insight to the premise behind its songs.

The first song, The Ringmaster, tells the story of our protagonist and gives the listener a hint of his plan. Next is To the Grave which lets the newly acquired minions understand what is actually in store for them under the big top. The third track Uprising is when the battle begins. The minions have come together to throw down with “The Ringmaster” for an epic battle of good and evil. Our battle finally comes to a bloody finish with Bend the Knee. Who will be left standing?

Are you a band which goes into the studio with songs pretty much in their final state or prefer to develop them as you record?

We are 100% ready to record each track when entering the studio. Studio time is a pricey endeavour and we don’t like to burn money. The blade is sharpened before we hit record.

Tell us about the live side to the band, presumably a favourite aspect of the band?

Our live shows are our bread and butter. I promise you will not be bored. At one point you could be two feet away from a slinging guitar or about have Dan singing in your face. Our shows require audience participation and I promise you won’t be able to resist joining in.

It is not easy for any new band to make an impact regionally let alone nationally and further afield. How have you found it your neck of the woods?

Our region has had a recent bump in the past year but it is an uphill battle. The underground metal scene has some very strong bands and personalities but the only way we grow is standing side by side. We are doing our part to make sure the scene keeps pushing.

How has the internet and social media impacted on the band to date? Do you see it as something destined to become a negative from a positive as the band grows and hopefully gets increasing success?

At this point social media is crucial for BackBlast and for all underground bands in any genre. On one hand social media gives any band exposure that would typically cost a ton of cash for free. On the other hand our music is free. There seems to be some formula for success through social media and we are still doing the math.

Our big thanks for sharing time with us; anything you would like to add or reveal for the readers?

Right now you can grab a free copy of our EP, The Ringmaster, by going to our Facebook page. Give it a like, and shoot us a message to get your free download code!

Pete RingMaster 02/05/2018

Gutlocker – Cry Havoc!

Apr26

It is a release which has no qualms in punishing the senses and venomously attacking the psyche with its irritable and grievous intent; an encounter seemingly hell bent on leaving charred remains behind in its vicious sonic wake but it is hard to return that enmity when every twisted trespass and grievous throe inflicted leaves you hungry for more. The perpetrator of that creative animosity is the Cry Havoc! EP from UK sludge punks Gutlocker, a quartet of visceral noise and groove breeders which you may fear liking but find no other option available.

Born and bred in darkest Woking, Gutlocker emerged in 2012 inspired by the likes of Pantera, Mastodon, and Lamb of God and have since gone on to share stages with the likes of Trepalium, Evil Scarecrow, and Raging Speedhorn among others and made a reputation enhancing appearance at Download. We will be honest, Cry Havoc! is our long overdue introduction to the quartet of vocalist Craig McBrearty, guitarist Peter Tucker, bassist Ben Rollinson, and drummer Dean Walker but possibly the perfect moment to be infested by their sonic animus.

The release opens up with Bitter Memory and immediately devours the senses with predacious riffs, merciless rhythms, and the vocal individuality of McBrearty. His rancorous tones twist and squirm by the syllable, a trespass as magnetic as the tempest of sludge metal bred sound around him. Grooves invade and beats rupture as the track parades its grudge carrying enterprise, a raw irritation spawn incitement which crawls deeper under the skin by the minute with its multi-flavoured sonic antipathy.

The great start evolves into the equally violent and compelling No Burden, a matching cauldron of hellacious noise and emotions cast in its own individual likeness. As in the first, there is a great hardcore insurgency lurking in the lining of the track’s prowl and adding to both the songs’ continued blossoming listen by listen. Unpredictability similarly adds to their prowess in music and voice if not to the same heights of our favourite track within Cry Havoc!

Stuck is simply superb, a web of creative deception and ingenuity never going where it suggests or expectations assume. Straight away it is weaving with cunning devilry and with vendetta in its veins, swaying away like a Pantera coaxed cobra as McBrearty spills his bad blooded venom. Captivating in seconds, addictive soon after, the track just outdoes itself minute by minute as guitars and bass collude in predacious imagination, its pinnacle coming as a bass and drum swagger ignites a manipulative noise rock discordance as fully catchy as it is unexpected.

As great as the other three are, the track steals the show but not before being worried by closing encounter, Welcome to Fucktown. As those before, it stalks and crawls over the senses sharing rancorous breaths and malignant invention matched in kind by the vocals. There is tension in every note and second, malice too especially oozing from McBrearty’s throat and heart, it all going to make the final song one fearsome but captivating incursion.

Uniqueness is still a relatively rare find within modern music but Gutlocker have a good handle on it already and are on the path to making it a key weapon.

Cry Havoc! is available now through most online stores.

https://www.facebook.com/gutlockeruk

Pete RingMaster 24/04/2018

I Fight Bears – Self Titled

Feb20

An encounter which just grows in strength and persuasion with every listen, the self-titled debut album from Welsh metallers I Fight Bears is an ear grabbing statement of potential and success. Brewing a healthy blend of the familiar and fresh, it is a declaration of a band with all the weaponry to make a potent impact on the British metal scene.

Hailing from Bridgend, I Fight Bears draw on the inspirations of bands such as Killswitch Engage, Parkway Drive, and Lamb Of God for their voracious sound. It is not necessarily the most unique proposal you will come up against yet each song within the band’s first album has a freshness and adventure which commands attention. Since emerging around two years ago, the band has stirred ears and praise with their singles and a live presence which has taken them alongside the likes of When We Were Wolves, Skies In Motion, and Perpetua. Predominately self-recorded by the band itself with Micheal Paget (Bullet For My Valentine) involved on some songs for both mastering and mixing, their first album is a big nudge at richer and thicker attention and instantly makes a potent impact.

It opens with the mighty Hammers, melodic enticement and hungry rhythms instantly to the fore before it all unites for a rapacious and inviting enticement. A great blend of throat scraping and clean vocals grab their own healthy portion of attention soon after, the excellent mix matched by the predacious craft of the rhythms and creative weave of the guitars. Infectious and intimidating, it is a great start to the release; as suggested familiar and new imagination entangling in magnetic success.

Upcoming single, Envision, follows sharing melodic vines which maybe are not the most original but make a tasty appetiser for the blossoming enterprise of the song to flourish upon, again vocals captivating at the heart of the creative web. As the guitars weave, rhythms pounce with an anthemic touch, fiery grooves and spicy hooks latching onto their intrusive swing. With a touch of Avenged Sevenfold to it, the song hits the spot before making way for the band’s current single, Lost The Fight. The track’s roar is unleashed on a snare of grooves and sonic temptation, their enticing bait laid on the more volatile but no less gripping lure of the rhythms. I Fight Bears have a multi-flavoured surge of sound at the heart of all songs and maybe none as compelling as that fuelling this very easy to devour proposal, especially as it grows more predatory by the minute.

Design And Purpose carries that intrusive intent into its following proposition, beats and bass a grumbling trespass soon bound in melodic strands with their own imposing touch. Vocals blast the mix with a raw emotive breath, the song a predacious assault before opening up its melodic dexterity as clean vocals again provide a superb contrast matched by the endeavour of the guitars. As imposing and catchy as its predecessors, the track is a just as inviting lead into the band and its sound, quickly matched in that quality by Life Of One. Another smart weave of styles and sound bound in an adventurous intent, the song a swift and increasing captivation epitomising the band’s craft in songwriting, performance, and imagination.

It is fair to say that next up Disposed did not grab our ears as dramatically as those before it, surprises less open yet it is a richly satisfying and intriguing encounter with vocals once more especially magnetic before Trust thrusts its rousing prowess through ears. Rhythms harry and punish the senses as raw vocals graze their surface, an appetite stirring mix only enhanced by the melodic and harmonic tenacity of guitars and the cleaner side of the two pronged vocal persuasion. Barbarous yet seductive, the song is superb and only escalates in captivation with every subsequent twist.

From the cantankerously wired Exhale, an incendiary slice of metal with a hardcore lining that is as irritable as it is infectious, and the senses crushing tempest of Smoking Gun, the album hits another high spot to rival its early plateau. Both songs are a cauldron of what the band does best and right to the fore of our favourite moments, their might leaving System a task to bring things to a just as potent close which it does with its own corrosive furnace of enterprise and power. The trio alone leave ears and pleasure full with a hunger for more in close attention.

With the realisation of their inescapable potential and a real vein of individuality, I Fight Bears could become a real presence within the broadest metal scene. Their thickly enjoyable first album already declares the band one exciting prospect on that British landscape.

The I Fight Bears album is out now.

http://www.facebook.com/ifightbearsband http://www.twitter.com/ifightbearsband http://www.instagram.com/ifightbears

Pete RingMaster 20/02/2018

Shadowpath – Rumours of a Coming Dawn

Dec3

Released earlier this year with a more recent and wider reboot, Rumours of a Coming Dawn is the debut album from Swizz metallers Shadowpath. It is also one of those encounters which certainly makes a strong impression first time around but grows in potency and pleasure as subsequent ventures into its depths reveals the true imagination and craft at its heart.

Originally called Wishpond, Shadowpath weave a multi-flavoured sound drawn from the attributes of power and symphonic to progressive and death metal, taking in inspirations ranging from Opeth, Dark Tranquillity, Everon, J.S. Bach, Katatonia, Lamb of God, Amon Amarth, Tesseract, Dream Theater, and Nightwish amongst many others. The band’s personnel has changed a fair bit over time but by 2015, the line-up of vocalist Gisselle Rousseau, keyboardist/vocalist/songwriter Philipp Bohny, guitarist Stefano Riario, bassist Amos Zürcher, and drummer Samuel Baumann came together and proceeded to work on this first album across the following year.

Each of the eight tracks within Rumours of a Coming Dawn are individual slices of creative theatre in an overall play, many epic productions and all woven and cast upon the listener with an instinctive passion and imagination. Each also provides a web of layers and textures which unveils new twists and fresh aspects with every listen, a major reason why it grows in impressiveness over attentive time.

The opening introduction of Prelude to Agony is the most straight forward proposal of all within the album, its invitation an atmospheric overture to things to come. Its stormy entrance brings with it the elegant melancholy of the piano and as swiftly the vocal prowess of Rousseau. Her harmonic cries then spark the more portentous air of storm and track with rhythms imposing yet restrained and melodies funereal even in their liveliness as flames of guitar descend. It is an imagination stirring start soon spawning the tempestuous throes of Chaos Equation. Instantly guitars and keys collude in a magnetic tapestry, the grumble of the bass and senses clipping beats lining the heated union with darker almost predacious hues. Rousseau’s symphonic nurtured delivery is a glassy reflection of word and emotion and superbly contrasted by Bohny’s earthy growls; it all uniting for a captivating tempest as potent in its electronic invention as in its extreme metal bred trespass.

The following Seed of Hope makes a calmer entrance, Rousseau and piano aligning their melodic suggestiveness before a rise of dark drama erupts, settling down again to begin repeating the dramatic cycle. As its predecessor, the track has many familiar aspects to it and plenty of unique features which combine for a compelling and increasingly striking proposal. The individual craft of the band is inescapable; Bohny and Riario especially grabbing attention within the song though as it evolves everyone makes a rich impact.

Every track is an adventure never settling into one direction, perpetually unpredictable and as a result fascinating though none more so than the album’s best moment, The Impossible Chain. It easily outshines those around it, instantly stirring the passions with its outstanding start. The dark noir stroll of the bass within the dancing threat of drums is simply delicious, manna to personal tastes and things only escalate in pleasure as keys spread their suggestive wash and guitars spring their devilish almost salacious tempting. Once Bohny’s raw throated tones open with demonic intimidation, the track has an unshakeable grip. Then mellower twists and harmonic beauty comes with skittish rhythms, the climate change as beguiling as the aggressive trespasses are thrilling, as too is Rousseau varying her more expected symphonic metal delivery with more organic and grounded exploits, an excellent move hopefully she will explore further ahead as it equally stands out over the next pair of songs. A scenic break midway in the song is just a tempting breath before it returns to even more adventurous and surprising endeavours, setting a major pinnacle within the release by its conclusion.

Next up Another Inquisitor makes a thick attempt at rivalling its majesty, the song an intricately designed maze of electronic, melodic, and fierce metal dexterity with folk seeded progressiveness. Rousseau again pushes her range and adventure to fine effect whilst musically the song never gives a moment to settle in one flavour or style, again to rich success before Deny me opens like a relaxed bloom into a fiery display of sonic colour and creative magnetism. Though it does not quite match up to the previous two, the song simply enthrals from start to finish.

The album concludes through firstly For a Final Ultimatum, a cauldron of contrasting often battling textures and inescapably infectious enterprise, and finally Beta, a mercurial serenade of self-reflection and melancholic fire which ebbs and flows in volatility as it charms ears and imagination. It is a thunderous finale to the album, even in its calm flights having an instinctive power which lends to its vice like hold on attention.

Shadowpath create music which manages to be chilling and haunting as simultaneously it is warm and inviting, threatening and ravaging. The evidence is all there within Rumours of a Coming Dawn, a release which may not be perfect but has all the seeds to evoke real enjoyment and the anticipation of major things ahead.

Rumours of a Coming Dawn is available now through the band’s Facebook page and website.

http://www.shadowpath.ch https://www.facebook.com/shadowpath.band https://twitter.com/shadowpath_band http://www.instagram.com/shadowpath_band

Pete RingMaster 01/12/2017

Inferum – Modern Massacre EP

Aug23

photo by Emmelie Herwegh

Making an introduction very hard to ignore are Dutch metallers Inferum through their debut release, the Modern Massacre EP. It offers four barbarous slices of, to use their press release’s term, “Mechanical Death Metal” but a trespass just as eagerly embracing groove and deathcore bred enterprise. It is a striking first listen at a band young in age and yet to reach its second year but one with the potential to make major statements within the European metal scene ahead.

The Eindhoven hailing outfit draw on inspirations found in the likes of Thy Art Is Murder, Lamb of God, Slaughter to Prevail, Meshuggah, and Gojira; a couple of which can be sensed within the EP’s opener and title track. Modern Massacre instantly wraps ears with wiry grooves as rhythms probe with forceful intent. Both continue to entice and invade as vocalist Morrison de Boer quickly shows his adventurous delivery, employing varying textures within his first assault alone. The sonic dexterity of guitarist Lars Deelman is matched by the barbarous designs cast by rhythm guitarist Ozzy Voskuilen, together creating a tempest as infectiously alluring as it is fearsomely intrusive with never a handful of seconds passing without new adventure and unpredictable twists being shared.

It is an outstanding dramatic start which alone demands repeat attention to the release and quickly backed in potency by the following Blinding Supremacy. Instantly shaped by the predatory tone of Stan Albers’ bass and the imposing swings of drummer Wouter Macare, the track is an even darker and more murderous proposition than the first but fusing a controlled lighter tempting into its inhospitable climate. Indeed it has moments which skilfully and imaginatively wrong-foot expectations and assumptions, creating a maze like proposal which simply grows more impressive with every passing minute and listen.

Rotten King slams its credentials into thoughts and appetite immediately after as rhythms scythe through the senses followed swiftly by a raw animus of sound cast by guitars and vocals. Inferum have just played with Cryptopsy at Patronaat Haarlem and there is a whiff of the Canadians to the character and technical tenacity of the third track and of Gojira too as it intrudes upon and devours the senses with relish.

Closing track, Incineration, shares its own almost kaleidoscopic whirl of barbarous invention and violent unpredictability; each second seemingly an evolution of the last but with a fluidity which breeds infectious bait for quickly ravenous ears. The groan of bass is as irresistible as the vocal enterprise of de Boer, both as compelling as the imaginative sonic netting sprung around the listener by Deelman and Voskuilen. With Macare’s merciless strikes on top, the song brings the release to a masterfully stirring conclusion.

Only further impressing with every listen, Modern Massacre is a debut demanding to be taken notice of from a band which with their already open creative adventure and fires increasingly burning are surely heading to major attention.

Modern Massacre is available now @ https://inferum.nl/product/ep-modern-massacre/

https://www.facebook.com/InferumBand/

Pete RingMaster 22/08/2017