Artist: Warpath (ire)
Title: Malevolent Reprisal
Type: Album
Label: Underground Movement

Ireland’s Warpath have shared the stage with the likes of Despised Icon, Necrophagist and Lividity, recently sharing a split release with the latter said band. This brutal death metal crew thunder into life in the biggest sense of the word. ‘Bloodsoaked Bayonet’ for example, is rather relentless mixing modern brutal death styling with a little grind. Think of a hybrid of big hitters and genre forefathers like Dying Fetus, some Misery Index and some hardcore monsters (there is a Hatebreed cover song at the end of this release). The hardcore end of the spectrum is especially prevalent in the vocals. The music is battering and forthcoming in delivery with the blueprint sound of a modern band with studio magic at their disposal in all the right places. But even with this less than organic delivery, there is still something of a wow-factor, a power that is pretty much non-relenting in consistency throughout this long player, you will find this apparent during ‘Point Blank Execution’. Unearthly howls and growls, blasting triggered drumming and plenty of riffs laid waste underneath the massacre. I don’t really have much time for this style overall, there is a wealth of talent spreading its disease with these influences around the globe, but I have to say, after initial misgivings, ‘Malevolent Reprisal’ is a hive of angry honey bees. Technically, the guitar work is second to none, but the arrangements won’t have you discovering anything out of the ordinary to what is already out there in the big bad world, there are big breakdowns and hyper blasts here and there, although I think it has more to do with the powerful production than anything else.

For me, this is an enigma of a release, for all the technical work put into the studio sound and production, I don’t feel there is much in regards staying power apart from the obvious talent of each and every individual musician. ‘Malevolent Reprisal’ is a typical modern brutal death release of immense power, but it may leave you shrugging your shoulders with indifference.

http://www.myspace.com/warpathire
http://www.underground-movement.net