Gorefest - Rise to Ruin
Nuclear Blast - NB1922-2 - 3rd August, 2007
By Paddy Walsh
Gorefest occupy that small but burgeoning group of death metal bands that seem to have a social conscience, which to be honest their name doesn't allude to in the slightest (but then again, neither did Dying Fetus'). Having existed in some form since 1989, Gorefest disappeared off the metal radar after 1998's Chapter 13 only to resurface in 2005 with La Muerte. These Dutch deathsters play a groove-laden brand of death metal not unlike Bolt Thrower or even early Entombed, and vocalist Jan-Chris De Koeijer is in posession of an excellent set of nasty-pipes, spitting forth a throaty growl that compliments the 'death and roll' of this release perfectly.
'Revolt' kicks things off in fine form, being an up-tempo death metal workout that has an interesting 'clean guitars, crackly spoken word' interlude. Great stuff, and Rise to Ruin continues in this vein - Gorefest thankfully had the foresight to be as varied as possible, with copious twin-guitar leads, doom-laden dirges and flashes of technical wizardry amidst the all-out death metal assault. 'A Question of Terror' is an excellent example of their myriad influences coming together, it's mid-paced groove interspersed with twisted synth interlude before speeding up into a frenetic solo workout. 'Babylon's Whores', meanwhile, contains a breathtaking doom midsection which ends with Opeth-like clean guitar part before ploughing back into the familiar death metal terrain that is at its core. Gorefest seem more interested in writing actual songs proving how many riffs they can fit into a minute or how many bpm their drummer can play, and it works entirely in their favour. Rise to Ruin is an unpretentious, fantastically entertaining slice of varied death metal that even the most jaded of death metal fans will garner some enjoyment from.
Official Gorefest Website
Official Nuclear Blast Website
Nuclear Blast - NB1922-2 - 3rd August, 2007
By Paddy Walsh
Gorefest occupy that small but burgeoning group of death metal bands that seem to have a social conscience, which to be honest their name doesn't allude to in the slightest (but then again, neither did Dying Fetus'). Having existed in some form since 1989, Gorefest disappeared off the metal radar after 1998's Chapter 13 only to resurface in 2005 with La Muerte. These Dutch deathsters play a groove-laden brand of death metal not unlike Bolt Thrower or even early Entombed, and vocalist Jan-Chris De Koeijer is in posession of an excellent set of nasty-pipes, spitting forth a throaty growl that compliments the 'death and roll' of this release perfectly.
'Revolt' kicks things off in fine form, being an up-tempo death metal workout that has an interesting 'clean guitars, crackly spoken word' interlude. Great stuff, and Rise to Ruin continues in this vein - Gorefest thankfully had the foresight to be as varied as possible, with copious twin-guitar leads, doom-laden dirges and flashes of technical wizardry amidst the all-out death metal assault. 'A Question of Terror' is an excellent example of their myriad influences coming together, it's mid-paced groove interspersed with twisted synth interlude before speeding up into a frenetic solo workout. 'Babylon's Whores', meanwhile, contains a breathtaking doom midsection which ends with Opeth-like clean guitar part before ploughing back into the familiar death metal terrain that is at its core. Gorefest seem more interested in writing actual songs proving how many riffs they can fit into a minute or how many bpm their drummer can play, and it works entirely in their favour. Rise to Ruin is an unpretentious, fantastically entertaining slice of varied death metal that even the most jaded of death metal fans will garner some enjoyment from.
Official Gorefest Website
Official Nuclear Blast Website
