thrash metal / hardcore
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Right, back to the writing table after a few days of rest. We definitely need the rest but, as one of the first laws of physics say, 'a body in rest wants to remain in that position'. So, in order to avoid getting lazy, let's blast some brutal metal through our speakers. Usually, bands like Sepultura and Slayer do the trick but being a reviewer and all, I decided to check out one of the albums that recently reached our headquarters.
V-Anger is metal band from Milano (Italy), formed in 2012. Besides being very decent musicians, this quartet seems to have an unhealthy obsession with shovels. They claim that the shovel represents heavy, groovy, direct & "straight in your face" sound, which is a decent explanation. I, on the other hand, think the shovel is just an instrument to get rid of the people who didn't survive the moshpits that V-Anger causes. This is damn heavy, that's for sure.
With a blend of thrash, death and hardcore metal, these Italians don't bring anything new to the scene. Yet, what they do is quite impressive. The riffs of 'Chaos A.D.' era Sepultura, the drums of Slayer and the vocals of Hatebreed. Hell, they even cover Sepultura's version of 'Biotech Is Godzilla'. But before that, let's check out some other songs. 'Revenge' immediately opens a can of old-school asskicking, followed by one of my favorites on this album, named 'No More'.
When 'Soldiers Of Pain' comes up, the band starts showing some other influences as well. There's the riffage of old school death metal bands like Cannibal Corpse or Suffocation, the furious durms of speed metal and the industrial technicality of Fear Factory (in 'First Angel') or the massive sound of Pantera (in 'Slaughterhouse'). Here and there some elemements from Deftones also shine through. All of course covered in a thick layer of distortion and played with sheer brutality.
So in all, 'In Shovel We Trust' is a well-varied blend of metal styles, with a lot of energy. Headbangers will absolutely love this, although you have to be quite experienced to be able to cope with the tempo sometimes. Yet, this is also perfectly suited for hardcore festivals. V-Anger has no problem combining both metal and hardcore into an intense piece of music. I think they're well on their way to the European stages, at first probably supporting one of the bands I mentioned in this review, but given time and effort, see them rise...
Serge
V-Anger is metal band from Milano (Italy), formed in 2012. Besides being very decent musicians, this quartet seems to have an unhealthy obsession with shovels. They claim that the shovel represents heavy, groovy, direct & "straight in your face" sound, which is a decent explanation. I, on the other hand, think the shovel is just an instrument to get rid of the people who didn't survive the moshpits that V-Anger causes. This is damn heavy, that's for sure.
With a blend of thrash, death and hardcore metal, these Italians don't bring anything new to the scene. Yet, what they do is quite impressive. The riffs of 'Chaos A.D.' era Sepultura, the drums of Slayer and the vocals of Hatebreed. Hell, they even cover Sepultura's version of 'Biotech Is Godzilla'. But before that, let's check out some other songs. 'Revenge' immediately opens a can of old-school asskicking, followed by one of my favorites on this album, named 'No More'.
When 'Soldiers Of Pain' comes up, the band starts showing some other influences as well. There's the riffage of old school death metal bands like Cannibal Corpse or Suffocation, the furious durms of speed metal and the industrial technicality of Fear Factory (in 'First Angel') or the massive sound of Pantera (in 'Slaughterhouse'). Here and there some elemements from Deftones also shine through. All of course covered in a thick layer of distortion and played with sheer brutality.
So in all, 'In Shovel We Trust' is a well-varied blend of metal styles, with a lot of energy. Headbangers will absolutely love this, although you have to be quite experienced to be able to cope with the tempo sometimes. Yet, this is also perfectly suited for hardcore festivals. V-Anger has no problem combining both metal and hardcore into an intense piece of music. I think they're well on their way to the European stages, at first probably supporting one of the bands I mentioned in this review, but given time and effort, see them rise...
Serge