Dew Scented
“Inwards”
(Nuclear Blast)
Slayer-esque and rippin’ from the first blast. Downright manic guitar riffage from the speedy thrash school. The one dimensional vocals of Leffe Jensen won’t deter any metalhead from loving this and even walks just this side of discernable when it comes to understanding most the lyrics without a sheet, but the guitars hold so much weight–they just don’t stop. No ballads, no gothic intros, just the guts of thrash. From straight ahead, one low-note stuttering, to evoking that demon whine in the solos, this is older school guitar thrash done extremely well. Not dark or evil enough to qualify into the black and grind metal categories. Unless one’s ear is honed enough to discern the difference, this will just sound like Slayer with a deeper growl of a vocalist. No song in particular stands out, but then again, no song is a track skipper either. Many sections of broken down riffage ramming into double blast and skipping beats, with crushing tempos that do not relent. “Life Ending Path” shows a stark usage of sound with the ending consisting of just a sharply struck snare, with a quick stutter guitar riff jumping in and out while the singer screams the title of the song. The piledriver of a riff that pushes the small breakdown a little more than 2 min into “Degeneration” shows how good metal commands the attention and moves the body (also see the intro to the next track “Feeling Not” for the same effect). The name is eye-catching for this genre and the band will deliver if someone’s curiosity bothers to check them out. Recommended for those who own more than 3 Slayer albums.
