Ribspreader - The Van Murders
It is difficult to come to a conclusion on what to think of Sweden's Ribspreader and their latest album. They've been around for some time so they're pretty seasoned in their death metal style and don't sound like amateurs, but at the same time their album 'The Van Murders' can be a confusing lot. On the one hand the musicianship is raw, gutteral and almost groovy and melodic at times; some could say it is almost a recreation of Bloodbath's 'Resurrection Through Carnage' (but not as epic). The raw buzzing guitar and contrastingly clear, but gutteral vocals is a wonderful attempt and following the deathgore supergroup's masterful work, but Ribspreader also have a bit of tongue in cheek humor going on within their music which somewhat takes away the credibility of how serious they are with their death metal. Not to say that death metal can't be fun, but it just leaves listeners confused when the band includes some pretty generic and tongue in cheek titles along with their lyrics such as "The Cleaner and Mr. Filth" or "Going to L.A." The former is actually the main concept of the album as the lyrics throughout are focused on the misdeeds to both killers, and "Going..." is a slow, grooving instrumental that is raw and gritty but also features some technical moments and even a few 'electronica' influences in the background.
Other tracks like "Slaughterhouse on Wheels" are more straightforward death metal with a slight increase in production so it doesn't feel like Bloodbath all the way through while still keeping the groove elements, but it also holds the single main issue with the album: repetitiveness. After a while the music starts to get predictable with the same riffs over and over, broken up by a brief solo, and then lapsing into the same riffs again. No matter how catchy or how groovy they are, sadly a lack of a more complex structure leaves lots to be desired by putting Ribspreader more along the lines of a typical generic death metal band. Hammering out death rock n' roll is fun stuff, but when considering bands like Six Feet Under and Debauchery, it doesn't really bring anything new to the genre and therefore not much incentive to really give it a listen save for that it is catchy. But, at least the concept of 'The Van Murders' is pretty enticing and once one listens through the entire album, actually quite fun. If only the album could have been a bit longer to add more story to it instead of just clunking death metal...
Other tracks like "Slaughterhouse on Wheels" are more straightforward death metal with a slight increase in production so it doesn't feel like Bloodbath all the way through while still keeping the groove elements, but it also holds the single main issue with the album: repetitiveness. After a while the music starts to get predictable with the same riffs over and over, broken up by a brief solo, and then lapsing into the same riffs again. No matter how catchy or how groovy they are, sadly a lack of a more complex structure leaves lots to be desired by putting Ribspreader more along the lines of a typical generic death metal band. Hammering out death rock n' roll is fun stuff, but when considering bands like Six Feet Under and Debauchery, it doesn't really bring anything new to the genre and therefore not much incentive to really give it a listen save for that it is catchy. But, at least the concept of 'The Van Murders' is pretty enticing and once one listens through the entire album, actually quite fun. If only the album could have been a bit longer to add more story to it instead of just clunking death metal...
- The Beginning Of The End
- The Cleaner And Mr. Filth
- A Morbid Journey
- Sick Minds Think Alike
- Going To L.A.
- Silicon Valley Of Death
- Slaughterhouse On Wheels
- Cadaver Disposal
- This Is The Ribspreader
Label: http://www.vicrecords.com
Reviewer: Colin McNamara
Apr 25, 2011
Apr 25, 2011
Next review:
Vspolox - Sorrow Of The Past
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