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When I looked up Ovenizer on the internet, I noticed a review about this record. The writer wasn't too friendly about the artwork and the title, which actually is an abbreviation of 'Satans Washing Machine'. He wondered why a band would come up with something as silly as that. I actually didn't, I remember thinking ''Satans Washing Machine', sounds awesome' and I imagined a lot of things Satan would do if he had a washing machine. On the other hand, what would Satan wash? He only wears a black piece of cloth made from the scrotum of the damned, no?
Now, any self-respecting reviewer would immediately look beyond the cover art and the title. Whoever does this, will find one hell of an album, blending death and doom metal, stoner rock and black metal into a very enjoyable and groovy piece of work. Quite strange for a band that claims to be a post-metal band with 'nordic' influences but pretty amazing nonetheless. Let's just call this groove-metal and headbang ourselves into a coma again, shall we?
The album opens with 'Standing On The Shoulder Of Giant', a very strong song with groovy riffs and alternating melodic vocals and deep growls. Most of the other songs follow the same structure, often reminding me of Amorphis' 'Black Winter Day', combined with some Machine Head influences. Title track 'Satans Washing Machine' might already be one of my favourites this year. 'S&M' rocks damn well but still it leaves me a bit hungry, at this point SWM is a good album but Ovenizer have to show something more to become great.
And damned, do they deliver...
On 'Paddling In The Sky' the blastbeasts suddenly appear, suddenly references of Emperor or Immortal aren't far away. 'S.I.B.' brings Machine Head to mind again and is one hell of a metal track. 'Incubatory' borrows the post-metal elements in the previous songs and becomes an awesome modern melodic metal track. 'Watch' and 'Don't Trust Me, I Know What I'm Doing' close the album in style. I'm not going to give away the brilliant ending. You'll have to find that out for yourselves.
In all, SWM is a pretty amazing melodic metal album, combining some of the best elements from many heavy genres. The amount of variation is startling, even in the excellent use of vocals. Ovenizer might as well become the missiing link between old school and new school metal and that's a real accomplishment. I can only recommend checking this out because it rocks ànd it has a great sense of humour. Basically that's all we need in life, right?
Serge
Now, any self-respecting reviewer would immediately look beyond the cover art and the title. Whoever does this, will find one hell of an album, blending death and doom metal, stoner rock and black metal into a very enjoyable and groovy piece of work. Quite strange for a band that claims to be a post-metal band with 'nordic' influences but pretty amazing nonetheless. Let's just call this groove-metal and headbang ourselves into a coma again, shall we?
The album opens with 'Standing On The Shoulder Of Giant', a very strong song with groovy riffs and alternating melodic vocals and deep growls. Most of the other songs follow the same structure, often reminding me of Amorphis' 'Black Winter Day', combined with some Machine Head influences. Title track 'Satans Washing Machine' might already be one of my favourites this year. 'S&M' rocks damn well but still it leaves me a bit hungry, at this point SWM is a good album but Ovenizer have to show something more to become great.
And damned, do they deliver...
On 'Paddling In The Sky' the blastbeasts suddenly appear, suddenly references of Emperor or Immortal aren't far away. 'S.I.B.' brings Machine Head to mind again and is one hell of a metal track. 'Incubatory' borrows the post-metal elements in the previous songs and becomes an awesome modern melodic metal track. 'Watch' and 'Don't Trust Me, I Know What I'm Doing' close the album in style. I'm not going to give away the brilliant ending. You'll have to find that out for yourselves.
In all, SWM is a pretty amazing melodic metal album, combining some of the best elements from many heavy genres. The amount of variation is startling, even in the excellent use of vocals. Ovenizer might as well become the missiing link between old school and new school metal and that's a real accomplishment. I can only recommend checking this out because it rocks ànd it has a great sense of humour. Basically that's all we need in life, right?
Serge