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August 29, 2008 |
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01. Assail The Creation
02. Sown Are The Seeds Of Death
03. Dead Children, Black Rats
04. Faith Bled Dry
05. Bearer Of The Torch
06. Pest Cometh
07. Far Advanced Closure
08. Thus Came Dying Unto Kaffa
09. Shorespread God
10. Failure's Drawn
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Pretty much every subgenre of Metal seems to go through the same predictable evolutionary development. It goes something like this: in the beginning you have the 'first tier' bands; the originators, the pioneers who craft a new take on that basic 'heavy guitars and drums' Metal template that infuses the sound with a fresher and more vital musical bloodline. These bands are the ones who will always retain their artistic integrity. Whether or not that translates into commercial success is another story altogether. Next – when the excitement generated by the creation of said new sound/subgenre is at its peak - you get the 'second tier' bands; the copycats, the tailcoat-riders, the opportunists who pick up the proverbial ball in the middle of the play and run with it, often into much more diluted, commercial, and accessible corners of the playing field. Bands at this level often end up eclipsing their 'first tier' counterparts in terms of popularity and financial gain.
Finally, you get the 'third tier' bands – the wide base of the hierarchical artistic pyramid – y'know...the Johnny-come-latelies, the fifth wheels, the followers who, while often competent and listenable, aren't truly doing anything more innovative than adding to the body of what is at this point now an established subgenre of Heavy Metal.
That said, this little diatribe now brings me full circle to the debut release of newest Metal Blade hopefuls TORCHBEARER (Par Johansson/Vocals, Christian Alvestam/Guitars and Backing Vocals, Goran Johansson/Guitars, Mikael Degerman/Bass, Henrik Schonstrom/Drums, and guest guitarist Tomas Johansson) who are, in my humble opinion, arguably one of the more competent and listenable 'third tier' Death/Thrash/Black bands to appear of late. 'Yersinia Pestis' is a dark little slab o' hatred and blackness – a concept album of sorts even – relating the horrors of the Black Plague that ravaged 12th-14th century Europe. The music on offer here is definitely of a solid caliber, although instantly comparable to a whole host of similiar bands (members have all done time in acts such as UNMOORED, INCAPACITY, SOLAR DAWN, and SETHERIAL) from the Swedish Death/Thrash/Black scene.
If anything, TORCHBEARER remind me a lot of what I imagine MARDUK would sound like if they knew how to change tempo from time to time and slow things down to a recognizable riff or two. And riffs are truly the order of the day here, as this is quite decent, headbangable fare, with plenty of varied time changes, and more than enough psychic bile to please the more black-hearted amongst ye.
Most memorable tracks would have to be opener 'Assail The Creation' which kicks things off with a particularly Thrashy attack, the blackened assault of 'Bearer Of The Torch', and personal fave 'Pest Cometh' with it's viciously infectious, hooky riff, and impressive leadwork by guest guitarist Tomas Johansson. Beyond these though, as stated, this is ultimately merely a very good release. A solid, meaty, competent, and listenable effort. I found it good, but good in a way that about twenty or thirty similiar albums by similiar bands are good. The band should be proud of their accomplishments here however, inasmuch as it is only a debut release.
As such, there should be room to grow and improve, and they are certainly starting off from a better base point than many. But until some sort of innovation makes itself known, until that certain special 'something', the magic touch of originality and inspiration that can elevate a band to 'first tier' innovator's staus appears...this is just another very good, very listenable, and very competently played album of Death/Thrash/Black Metal tossing about in the much wider, and deeper sea of 'third tier' Heavy Metal bands.
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