Short Introduction
Ravenous was formed in Southampton in early 2008 when (bassist) Leon Maidment Millar joined an old school friend (lead guitar/vocals) Dave Game and band mates (drummer) Rich Giles,(rhythm) Dave Foster in performing covers of the Thrash/Groove metal genre with only one original song named Ravenous!
After much indecision it was decided that Ravenous would be the most fitting name for the new direction of the band and the craving need to break the fashionable trends in metal and return to its rawer roots with more lyrical structure and 'lyrical' lyrics.
Ravenous perform live in and around the south of england with original sets and are always well received, supporting the likes of Kobra And The Lotus among others. Ravenous continues on the same path with more and more original material and an ever increasing appetite for anthemic and meaningful composition. "We are become death" is the debut album of the band.
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| (c) by Ravenous, used with kind permission |
Summary / Player / Purchase-Link
This album is a blast! When other bands have completed their songs and are about to unplug their instruments this is the time when Ravenous are about start over. Their songs scream out the attitude to really play heavy music. That's what you'll remember once you've listened to one of their songs. I would describe the band's sound as a mixture between Metallica in their early days and a good potion of Machine Head.
So if you'd like to hear music that gives you some extended time and heavyness after the "normal" formula of the song with intro, chorus, refrain and solo has come to the end Ravenous "We are become death" is for you. It's this plus that gives you more joy while listening to it. A extra potion of heavyness gives this band it's special sound and makes it a good time you'll like to repeat again and again.
I highly recommend buying this record. It has a classic appeal to me. You can hear the rawness of the beginning of a thrash band but are also quickly aware that they've spent quite some time composing and practicing the tracks since they come very tight and ass kicking. The sound is a pleasure since it is well arranged and produced and fits to the albums songwriting, very compact and crushing.
The band has put inside some meaningfull elements to the sound that will make you remember. It's just some few modern elements so no need to worry if you dislike the all too modern attempts on songwriting. All in all it's a good mixture of the traditionell way of playing this music along with a modern production and slightly updated songwriting. Just hit the play button and you'll quickly know what I mean. Enjoy this fine album.
The album can be pre-ordered digitally through plattforms such as
itunes,
Amazon or
Bandcamp. For all who'd like to have a physical copy in their hands there is the possibility to order one through the
webstore of the record company Coffee Jingle Records that the band is signed to. The official release date is 27th November 2015.
You can get in touch with the band via
Facebook,
Twitter or
YouTube.
Album-Overview (Track-by-track review)
"We are become death" has a good mixture of various tracks on it. It's a
brutal thrash ride that knows various tempos and moods. If you wanna quickly get a idea of the
band just check in directly with the first number called
"Abhor". It's a
perfect presentation of the band's heavyness in all of it's variations.
The track with the cool title
"Reverse (sympathy)" represents
the groove metal abilities of the band with it's rough back and forth
ride on the riff through heavy drums and fitting vocals. The second part
has some modern solo's inside while the ending leaves you with some
slow grooving. Well done!
The first single
and video
"Easter Island (We are become death)" has quickly become my favorite with it's changing parts in melody and heavyness which seems to flow into one each other. Finally the brutal side wins showing the great riffs the band is able to write. The guitar playing is very impressive and the vocals tell a lot of the bandwith the vocalist Dave Game is able to sing. A ballad also found it's way on the record. Properly entitled
"Alone"
it shows some of the melancholic side of the band, but again they didn't
forget to ripp it up their own way so it's not one of these ballads
that you may want to skip on a thrash record.
The band's first original track
"Ravenous" also found it's way on the record.
Starting out with a slow introduction the song that gave the band it's name fastly changes into a riff-hacker going in hard and direct. In the verse sections you'll recognize a lot of double-bass attacks going on. This one surely would make a good closing song for a live set giving the audience one more and leaving them behind with a smile and a good feeling.
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| The band logo (c) Ravenous, used with kind permission |
This one is followed by
the midtempo banger
"Deathstiny". This track stand out and will make you remember it's hookline and sharp-upripping riff for a long time.
"Suffocate" starts out slow with clear guitars and quickly leading over to some classic distorted riffs. Finally it throws you in a wild and powerfull storm of rhythm oriented thrashing. The track clears up with a mixture of slower and midtempo solo sections showing various forms of modern and traditionell string treatment before returning to the main theme.
"The Architect" sounds very classic again with a traditionell riff and it's midtempo formula. It's agressive but at the same time gives you a positive punch on energy. I can imagine this going down well on a live set, just think of all the people banging to it and having a good time. The solo section has a going-all-on-it feeling to it. We are going to get all out of the guitar there is. :-) Great tune!
"The Strawman" closes the first album with a mixture of a lot of riffing. The most complex track but it's worth it. Just give it some more spins to unravel each and every section there is. I think you'll love most of the parts. After all this album turns out to be a cure for me. I feel better after listening to it so I hope we'll hear more of this band giving the thrash and groove metal genre a fresh kick of air.
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