Warsenal - Feast Your Eyes
Straight from Montreal, Canada, the speed/thrash maniacs Warsenal present their second full length album after "Barn Burner" (2015).
The power trio gives us a lethal dose of a sweet crossover/speed/thrash metal based on (early) Megadeth and Metallica (only "Kill em All" era) with additional influences by the titanic forces of thrash like Razor, VoiVod, Sodom, (early) Kreator, and of course Slayer. Above them all, as in every power trio, hangs the attitude of Lemmy and Motorhead.
Warsenal's songwriting is pretty straight. Without unnecessary ornaments. It is powerful and basically remains to the point. However, in some of their songs like 'Lords Of Rifftown' I think it would work for the benefit of the song to be less repetitive in the riff usage and maybe orchestrated a bit differently.
There is a punk/street attitude in songs like 'I Am The Blade'. The sound in this song is evil. The back up vocals are working really good and bring an 80's thrash/punk feeling to the song.
Warsenal's riffs are razor sharp, rough, loud and mostly fast. The lead guitars are well performed and also have a sharp tone. On 'Insatiable Hunger' you will enjoy the many layers of solos. However, I miss in some lead parts the second guitar (for example on 'I Am The Blade'). The band decided to leave the bass alone in some lead parts maybe to give them a more "live" feeling. Although Jeffrey Millaire on the bass is very good, when they track down a second guitar behind the leads the result is way thicker and heavier which is absolutely needed in their music. The drums of Vincent Caron are nicely performed and as in every power trio they have a unique role because they cannot actually "hide". In 'Feast Your Eyes' they succeed to be attacking and clear. Vincent shows his technical/jazz background with his playing style. Mat's (Mathieu Rondeau) vocals are torn and aggressive. They have the 80's frenzy of thrash and early death metal. You know, that period in time when we called everything extreme in metal "speed".
The production is evil and raw in the way punk/early thrash releases were, but at the same time it's still nicely clean. I would love it a bit thicker/heavier to emphasize the nice riffwork.
A standout song is 'Doomed From Birth'. It's opening theme is an excellent acoustic one and I honestly believe that they should include more acoustic parts like this in their songs.
In general, although a bit nostalgic of the 80's, the album shows a nice attitude, good musicianship and some really cool influences. In my opinion, the band needs to work a bit more with their orchestration/songwriting without losing their street attitude. I am pretty sure they can achieve great things.
I also assume their live shows must be highly energetic. Warsenal have performed live with bands like Exciter, Sabbat (Jpn), Violator, Overkill, Venom Inc., Crowbar, Goatwhore, Toxic Holocaust, Solstice (US), Abigail (Jpn) etc. All this experience is only positive.
Fans of all the aforementioned bands will surely find interest in Warsenal. "Feast Your Eyes" with Julio Josto's fascinating artwork on the cover, which could have been an 80's horror VHS movie artwork, is out on Svart Records.
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The power trio gives us a lethal dose of a sweet crossover/speed/thrash metal based on (early) Megadeth and Metallica (only "Kill em All" era) with additional influences by the titanic forces of thrash like Razor, VoiVod, Sodom, (early) Kreator, and of course Slayer. Above them all, as in every power trio, hangs the attitude of Lemmy and Motorhead.
Warsenal's songwriting is pretty straight. Without unnecessary ornaments. It is powerful and basically remains to the point. However, in some of their songs like 'Lords Of Rifftown' I think it would work for the benefit of the song to be less repetitive in the riff usage and maybe orchestrated a bit differently.
There is a punk/street attitude in songs like 'I Am The Blade'. The sound in this song is evil. The back up vocals are working really good and bring an 80's thrash/punk feeling to the song.
Warsenal's riffs are razor sharp, rough, loud and mostly fast. The lead guitars are well performed and also have a sharp tone. On 'Insatiable Hunger' you will enjoy the many layers of solos. However, I miss in some lead parts the second guitar (for example on 'I Am The Blade'). The band decided to leave the bass alone in some lead parts maybe to give them a more "live" feeling. Although Jeffrey Millaire on the bass is very good, when they track down a second guitar behind the leads the result is way thicker and heavier which is absolutely needed in their music. The drums of Vincent Caron are nicely performed and as in every power trio they have a unique role because they cannot actually "hide". In 'Feast Your Eyes' they succeed to be attacking and clear. Vincent shows his technical/jazz background with his playing style. Mat's (Mathieu Rondeau) vocals are torn and aggressive. They have the 80's frenzy of thrash and early death metal. You know, that period in time when we called everything extreme in metal "speed".
The production is evil and raw in the way punk/early thrash releases were, but at the same time it's still nicely clean. I would love it a bit thicker/heavier to emphasize the nice riffwork.
A standout song is 'Doomed From Birth'. It's opening theme is an excellent acoustic one and I honestly believe that they should include more acoustic parts like this in their songs.
In general, although a bit nostalgic of the 80's, the album shows a nice attitude, good musicianship and some really cool influences. In my opinion, the band needs to work a bit more with their orchestration/songwriting without losing their street attitude. I am pretty sure they can achieve great things.
I also assume their live shows must be highly energetic. Warsenal have performed live with bands like Exciter, Sabbat (Jpn), Violator, Overkill, Venom Inc., Crowbar, Goatwhore, Toxic Holocaust, Solstice (US), Abigail (Jpn) etc. All this experience is only positive.
Fans of all the aforementioned bands will surely find interest in Warsenal. "Feast Your Eyes" with Julio Josto's fascinating artwork on the cover, which could have been an 80's horror VHS movie artwork, is out on Svart Records.
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1. Forever Lost
2. I Am The Blade
3. Lords Of Rifftown
4. Insatiable Hunger
5. Doomed From Birth
6. You Better Run
7. Burning Ships
8. Feast Your Eyes
9. Crystal Whip
2. I Am The Blade
3. Lords Of Rifftown
4. Insatiable Hunger
5. Doomed From Birth
6. You Better Run
7. Burning Ships
8. Feast Your Eyes
9. Crystal Whip
