New England thrashers Epicenter have dropped a killer new single, ‘Firepower’, from their forthcoming full-length new album, Subversion, due out on November 5th. Jam out to ‘Firepower’ at full volume, now!Continue reading
Tag Archives: Modern Thrash
Angelus Apatrida – Hidden Evolution
I have a slight issue with albums like Angelus Apatrida’s Hidden Evolution, their third for Century Media and fifth overall. See, I know that if I’d have picked this up in my teens, I’d have loved it and adopted them as a pet band, bought the T-shirt (providing it had a skull on it, which it surely would have) and I’d probably still be returning to it now – it has all the requisite elements, thrashed riffs, pace and power but with Skolnick-ian melodic leads to spice up the chugs, as well as melodic choruses, such as ‘Wanderers Forever’. But the issue is, that I don’t know if I can be wholly comfortable with reconciling an album that I’d recommend twenty years ago to an album I’d recommend now. But these Spanish thrashers are making a damn good go of convincing me.
Vocalist Guillermo Izquierdo flits from Dave Mustaine to Phil Anselmo territory within the space of ‘Architects’ and elsewhere calls to mind both Matt Barlow and modern day Zetro in delivery and phrasing (indeed, Iced Earth jamming with Exodus is an early impression that stays with you throughout repeat visits), and, at heart, this is thrash with its roots firmly in the Among The Living’s of our world, with worthy metal song-writing and some sanguine touches, such as the outro to ‘Tug of War’.
Alongside Izquierdo, his brother in guitaring arms David G. Alvarez finds the balance between raging, cutting loose and adding clever melodic guitar touches, little guitar licks that are reminiscent of Xentrix at their best, or some slick open chord embellishments to keep things interesting. Whilst staying within the (at times restrictive) confines of the genre, AA keep things fresh by varying their attack – capable of “heads down and see you at the end” numbers in the shape of the slamming ‘Serpents On Parade’, locked down spiky riffing, such as ‘End Man’, chugging out ‘First World Of Terror’ or bringing the hooks with the anthemic variants of ‘I Owe You Nothing’.
There are criticisms in that Hidden Evolution is a touch lengthy, and, despite playing with the various shibboleths that are prevalent within the “Serious Thrash” boundaries, these are still tropes that aren’t particularly new. But all that said, Angelus Apatrida have pulled together a very credible, consistent and enjoyable modern thrash album to be proud of. Despite my initial scepticisms, its over-riding “Proper” metalness and proliferation of hooks and actual songs has won me over. Fair play.
7.5/10
STEVE TOVEY
CRIPPER on Ditching being a DIY band to sign for a big label
In Part 2 of our Cripper feature, Christian and Gerrit talk to Ghost Cult about how they left the world of DIY and pitched in with one of the world’s biggest metal labels, Metal Blade, for the release of their new album Hyena
You’ve just signed to Metal Blade – how did that come about and how does it feel to be on such a big label?
Gerrit: At this point? Very good! We were comfortable with Metal Blade right from the start. We’re pretty lucky to have such a renowned and strong partner for our album and hopefully the following ones. They took notice of us at the Metaldays festival in 2013 and sent an e-mail afterwards. First we were thinking someone is kidding us. Then we realized that this is the “real” Metal Blade company and that they are seriously interested.
Cripper put out their last 3 records out through SAOL (Service for Artist Owned Labels). They provide promotion and distribution, two things you cannot do yourself beyond a certain extent, so signing to Metal Blade doesn’t make that much of a difference in that business area anyway. To help us bring Cripper to a next level, we think Metal Blade is a real good partner for us.
We bust our asses for Cripper, and there will never be a way around it. Artistically, every little thing is still in our hands, no compromise. Metal Blade is a good label for us and I hope we can reach more people out there with their help, travel farther and make new experiences.
Around the time you released The Antagonist you were saying in interviews that you weren’t looking for a label. What changed?
Christian: During the time we released Antagonist we were working together with our partners CMM marketing and SAOL. That was in 2012 and it felt good for us and our partners. For this time we were interested in having feedback on Cripper’s possibilities out there. Maybe there is an international market where to place our stuff and reach an even bigger crowd – who knows?
When Cripper played the 70.000 Tons Of Metal in 2011 and 2014 there were an international audience that was really interested in getting Cripper’s stuff. Unfortunately there was no chance to get your hands on our music because there were no stores in North or South America that sell the CDs. Some of the fans asked for albums and shirts by ordering in our webshop. We thought it would be great to give these guys the chance to buy our stuff.
How has signing to Metal Blade changed day to day life in the band?
Gerrit: Having signed the deal doesn’t change much of the processes within the band. I know Cripper right from their beginning in 2005 as an extremely disciplined and hard-working band. So in my perception there was not such a big change. Well, all the things around creating the artwork, all the filming for the 45-minutes Live-DVD, all the music videos, trailers and Making-Ofs were created by ourselves.
But the point is that we all didn’t want Metal Blade being disappointed in Cripper. They came with deadlines and we all had to hustle fulfilling plans. So we all did our best! It’s a great pleasure to have Metal Blade on our side. It’s really great that they spread the Cripper stuff around the world, haha!
Cripper on Facebook
DAN SWINHOE
CRIPPER talk new album ‘Hyena’
In the first of three features on their new album, guitarist Christian Bröhenhorst and bassist Gerrit Mohrmann talked to Ghost Cult about their band Cripper and the release of their fourth album Hyëna (Metal Blade – our review here)
You’ve just released your new album, Hyëna. How does it compare to your previous records?
Christian: I think it’s quite normal that the sound of a band evolves over time. It’s influenced by a few things – one important point is, that we all could increase our experiences in the studio and recording situation with every release. Another important factor is time; the time you have for the recordings and for mixing and finding the sound for our album. During the songwriting process came the idea for Hyëna‘s sound. We wanted the sound of Hyëna more compact and heavy. The idea was to create a sound that is solid and massive in a natural way, but transparent at the same time. We planned a recording session in the Kohlekeller Studios already in Nov. 2013. We decided to record four tracks as a sound demo, so to speak. The whole band was there so we had the chance to find the sound that we like and had in our minds for the whole album.
What’s the meaning behind the title of the album?
Gerrit: The title idea is not entirely new, Cripper came up with it even before they released Antagonist. Hyenas are somehow the thrash metallers among the predators. Mangy, imposing and stark, but not as elegant and sublime as lions and co. As a motto for a metal album, an aggressive hyena with very impressive teeth just fits very well. The album as a whole is very heavy and there are many serious, punchy riffs. This was decisive for the gloomy atmosphere in the whole artwork.
Are you happy with how the fans & critics have responded to the new album?
Christian: Most journalists give really positive reaction on the new output. Some of them are totally impressed which makes us feel proud because the working process was a long way to go for us. So many fans give us overwhelming feedback, sending out emails and postings they are so happy with the new songs. This is what makes us feel even better than havin’ a magazine’s positive review in hands.
Thanks to all the people givin’ us their support. You fuckin’ rule!
What’s Cripper’s songwriting process like?
Gerrit: Hm, first of all I think Cripper is a quite normal metal band when it comes to the writing process. Most of our songs start with riff ideas from Christian and Jonathan (Stenger – guitars). The first step is to play these ideas all together in our rehearsal room. Over time there comes a vision of a song and an attitude of the song. Then it starts from the beginning. Sometimes there are lengthy discussions about the riffs and the song structures. That is quite common for Cripper. A Cripper song is completed when all of us have a good feeling with the material.
For Hyëna in some cases we changed the way of getting started with new songs. We often tried to create an atmosphere and a flow of the new song first, before we went on with riffs. This way of writing songs was new for Cripper. It was an exciting experience for us and not always easy.
DAN SWINHOE