Does
anyone remember the
Finnish Winterwolf, authors of the demo-CDs "Death...will come
your way" and "Blood for Death"? After some
line-up changes in order to reinforce the band, they are back under
the new monicker Deathchain and with a powerful mastering by Minerva
Pappi at the ineffable Finnvox Studios.
The co-ordinates remain the same: Death/Thrash metal with a tough attitude
and a quite elevated skill of each member, and not only, thanks to the
2 guest guitarists delighting us with several solos and the additional
vocals by Antti Boman in a good 5 tracks.
"Chaos Wartech" opens fire with a Speed/Death/Thrash
assault; alike the resting songs it's very fast, but there is also a
great deal of variations that maintain the compositions interesting
from beginning to end. An excellent work of drums, an abrasive guitar
solo and demoniac vocals overdubbed with corrosive ones in the vein
of At the Gates constitute way more than an appetizer of what's expecting
us later.
"Rabid Vultures" slashes with Slayer- and Impious-like
riffs, whereas the vocals are this time more reminding the young Mille
Petrozza, sided by the growls of the above-mentioned Mr Boman. This
piece is more Thrash than the previous one and also more catchy, and
contains the best guitar solo of the whole album.
The riffing and the drumming of "Poltergeist (The Nemesis)"
show Inferno's and Defleshed's clear influences; this time the terrifying
skincrusher Kassara is not simply ultrafast, he's fulminant! To close
the track in a deign manner, here comes a fantastic final acceleration
spurring the listener to try and find his last energies for a frantic
headbanging.
"March of the Thousand Legions" starts alà Slayer,
and all of a sudden it turns to tight Swedish Death metal to a great
depth (At the Gates once again), but rhythm guitarist and lyricist Corpse
invents extra guitar trilling licks as an evidence of fineness in the
vast baggage of his capacities. As if it weren't enough, you find a
tasty solo after a hard double kickdrum slapping; not all songs have
a solo, but when they have them, one can be certain they're far from
muffing.
The CD gets over its half through "Carnal Damage",
another fast-paced song with annihilating mid-tempos and awesome back-up
growls; probably the highlight of the record, one should go see the
Finns live just to see how they'll perform this one, especially regarding
the drum parts. I am not exaggerating at all by saying that Kassara
is powerful, rapid, precise and able enough to be a fit replacement
for top drummers such as Dave Lombardo, lamented Vader's Doc or Cryptopsy's
Flo Mounier.
Differently, what strikes about "Undertaker" is the
lyrics, the most original out of the 9, dealing with the spread ecclesiastical
episodes of paedophilia or other sorts of sexual harassments by the
clergy. This time the supplemental vocals are alike the latest Cannibal
Corpse, while the chorus is typically Thrashy, as well as the rifferama
and Bobby's brief solo.
Utilizing the old good gimmick of opening with 10 seconds of low-fi
demotape sounds do we arrive at "Skeletal Claws", which
afterwards blows out and goes on like the previous song, one more time
achieving high quality and inducing as high tension levels as them in
the listeners.
"Carrier of Pestilence" is the catchiest track, owing
to a Funky metal initial pace (Funky, yes you read well); the rest of
the song is standardly Deathchain, but this song is memorable also through
the best sung and arranged refrain.
At last, the 5 musicians have decided to keep the most well-made up
guitar structures for the conclusive title track, abundant with highs
and lows on the bridge and, what matters most, extremely involving;
they let the percussionist exceed his performances so far, so as to
follow the harmonic construction.
After all, a cool artwork connected with the style of Obituary's "Cause
of Death" and a tough members' look complete the positive picture
concerning this debut, it being understood that the most important aspect
is that the old Thrash metal here relives moderned and strengthened
in a winning formula. Therefore the message to the people keeping to
the safe side and at the same time looking for newcomers within this
genre is not to let the chance of approaching these Finnish monsters
on record and on stage for no reason of this world!
MARKUS GANZHERRLICH - 20th June 2005