GandhiEgo | To me Razorback Records stand as the label that saved Death Metal. No more, no less. When technical wankers were taking the genre somewhere else from where it should have been, Billy and Vanessa were the only people that had some sense left in them and kept on releasing Death Metal records you could actually listen to without going epileptic.
Though some of the label’s latest releases have not been as brilliant as expected, they carry on the flame of real Death Metal with a passion and have succeeded in igniting it in others. Poland’s Selfmadegod certainly caught fire more than some others because after releasing both albums from the mighty Encoffination and being a long time distro partner of the aforementioned US label, here comes a split album between two bands of the Razorback roster: Crypticus and Scaremaker.
Let’s get started with Crypticus. There’s no words telling how much I like the previous two albums from Patrick Bruss' band. Here the definition of cookie monster vocals takes all its meaning and it's just an avalanche of riffs that just kill with a sense of groove that very few bands have. Most people had complained in the past that Crypticus had no drummer and that the drum programming failed the tracks. Though it's certainly nice to have a full-fledged band, these records are near perfect and that programming isn't annoying (he knows what’s he doing!) but hey, you wanted real drums? You got them here…so four tracks of pure Crypticus madness with real drums? What the heck more could you ask for? Nothing. That’s what I thought.
Then comes Scaremaker’s part. Scaremaker isn’t exactly your typical Death Metal. Not just because of Billy Nocera, owner of Razorback Records, not just because of Vanessa Nocera (does this scream Razorback!? AGAIN!?) makes it a female-fronted band, not just because the Elektrokutioner is here to axe his drumkit but because their horror-based take on Death Metal mixed with the sound of proto-80s stuff and a propension for rock n’ roll with two-tons bollocks make them sound like no other band from this Earth.
I recently read that Vanessa’s vocals were somewhere in between Deicide’s Glenn Benton and Fleetwood Mac’s Stevie Nicks! Freakin’ fitting if you ask me. Resolutely different, you’ll hear pure Glam Rock a la Motley Crue, aggression a la Venom and even some Black Metal riffing... and this is Death Metal!
The stakes here may seem high, two “niche” bands with a supposedly limited audience but really at the top of their art which makes this split album stand above the rest. If you don’t know either one of these bands, it’s about time you do and this is the perfect blend for the two of them. Long live Razorback, long live Selfmadegod!
2012-05-16 15:48:09
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