I wonder why bands choose their names sometimes, perhaps in the case of this lot it is because they raise hell and are sharp as a razor but looking at promo shots I’m going with a different option, as it looks like on the whole this hirsute bunch would run like hell from a razor. That aside you pretty much can guess exactly what this lot are going to sound like and indeed I was spot on the money before even pressing play. One thing that is particularly surprising though is that these traditional, metallic thrashers have a member of the much doomier Daylight Dies in their ranks, this is about as far as you can get from his more well known day job too and it has made me wonder what that lot have been up to since 2008 album ‘Lost To The Living.’
Hellrazor have one album to their name from 2008 called ‘In The Wild’ and these four tracks are their first material since then. If you are looking for balls to the walls metal it is quickly apparent as the title track thunders in that you are in the right place. Singer Alan Rueda instantly goes for the high note and it echoes around the musical bombast. His powerised delivery veers onto clean growls and melodious traditional croons. The music is melodic and full of vigour, confidently played and prone to big dynamic solos. This is catchy as you could wish for and it packs an incredibly powerful production. “The oracles crystal ball” lyrics maybe a bit on the cheesy side but you would probably feel something was missing if this sort of music didn’t have a slight waft of fromage about it. Nice beefy backing vocals and chugging guitar have you banging the head that bangs on ‘The Fool’ and by now this Carolinian mob are really hitting the mark.
I don’t actually get to that much traditional rip-roaring metal, as it normally gets grabbed by others, this landed on my lap due to a looming deadline and the fact that it only has four tracks kind of left me feeling cheated. Let’s hope ‘Closer To The Grave’ is not prophetic and the band manage to get a full length out in the near future as these tracks are good and have me pumped up to hear more. This Soothsayer is a good omen for things to come. Download for free at link below.
http://www.myspace.com/hellrazornc
