Wednesday 28 November 2012

Metalcore 0, Wiccan Wanderers 5

(long time coming, crazy situations - P)

Well, better late than never, the review of one of the UK's hardest working band's second CD, Ravens Creed's THE POWER.

From the moment the CD starts, with an air raid siren wailing and the staccatto, Hell Awaits style riffing comes on, you know that RC are about to serve a treat to your ears, a snap to your neck and a kick to your yarbles, if you have any yarbles that is.

Worshipping at the altar of 84-92 death/power/speed/thrash/whatever, all the adjectives that Cronos used to use to describe Venom in interviews, they pick up where they left off with 2011's Nestless and Wild EP, and pummel you into submission.

Younger readers maybe haven't ever heard a band like Ravens Creed before, and their blend of Venom/Kreator/Old Sepultura music would have you thinking you were listening to a South American tape on Cogulemo, with crystal clear production that really gets behind your eyes.
But don't kid yourself, this is no rose-tinted trip down memory lane, Ravens Creed are aggressive and hungry.
Vocalist Al Osta barks out commands like Patrick Mameli encased in Dalek armour, on Wiccan Wanderers sounding like a nastier version of Moonfog-era Darkthrone, with (as we have mentioned on previous occasions) outstanding drumming from Jay Graham who must surely be one of the greatest drummers in UK metal today.

There are traces of, dare we say it, groove in some of the tracks, such as on Raped by the Graveyard, which ploughs out of the speakers, with Fraser Craske's bass bubbling underneath Steve Watson's guitar, track after track of vicious, old-style, relevant metal.
None of the tracks are more than three minutes long, leaving you reeling from song to song, like going 16 rounds with David Price.

Standout tracks: Wiccan Wanderers, Rat King Rosary and Silence in Crow Court.

The album is out on Doomentia Records orange vinyl, black vinyl and Cd available and affordable.
Get over there, and Unleash the Rat Bashers.

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