Thrash is an artistic dead end, we all know that, that isn't a hot take by any means. All of the best thrash riffs have already been written (90% of them were written by Slayer at that), so if you're going to plant yourself firmly as a "thrash band" without veering into too much outside influence, the only way to really stand out nowadays is by just being as frantic and intense as possible. And in that regard, the lads from the Texas of Canada excel in that regard.
Concrete Funeral is a new band, made up almost entirely of fresh faces in the scene, and if it weren't for vocalist Devin Schrum, they'd probably be completely pointless. Musically there's nothing wrong with this, but if they had any average thrash vocalist they'd be just another rando in a scene that's both overcrowded and clearly dying. They play extraordinarily heavy thrash in the vein of newer Testament or Sodom with drums that are ten times louder than usual, and they keep the pace as high as they can as a general rule. So really there's nothing much that makes this stand out on its own, but it's quite competent and a fun listen every once in a while.
But like I said, they have the X factor with Schrum's vocals. I don't know if I've really made it clear before or not, but I absolutely fucking adore when thrash employs vocals that sound almost inhuman in their venomousness. More or less the only thing that keeps me from completely writing off Havok nowadays is just how completely manic and insane David Sanchez's vocals have gotten over the years, and Schrum hits basically that exact same plane of complete insanity with his voice. He utilizes some absolutely savage lows, recalling some of the more beastly ideals of out-and-out death/thrash like The Crown, but his true ace in the hole is his mid/high range voice. He sounds fucking feral, like he's biting his own throat out of his neck and vomiting it directly onto your face. The sheer vicious acidity of the vocals absolutely knock the album a full several pegs above where it would sit with a more generic vocalist and add so much to the latent intensity of the riffs themselves.
Unfortunately, while the vocals do carry the album, they don't make the album completely amazing on their own. Musically this is a very "ok" album, hitting all of the thrash tropes in the exact order you'd expect to hear them, and no amount of flashy solos or double bass can really break this out of the hole it dug for itself by simply playing by the rules of thrash. I've said before that we as fans of metal have unfairly moved the goalposts for thrash over the years, and I still believe that. Something can play by the rules and still kick ass at it, and Ultimum Jucidium is a great example of that, because I do think this is a good album and definitely something worth listening to, but I'd be lying if I said the brazen lack of innovation wasn't a bit of a disappointment, and the fact that there are only three truly standout tracks and two of them are at the very end ("Drown", "Carnival of Contradictions", and "Stabbed to Death") is a also a bit of a bummer. I'd say this isn't worth skipping by any means, and is definitely something I see myself coming back to as the year grinds on, but I don't see it ever truly breaking out and becoming a clear favorite on the year.
RATING: 77%
No comments:
Post a Comment