Watch Them Die - Watch Them Die
2003 - Century Media Records
By Philip Whitehouse
Go to the Century Media website.
Something different, at last! It's been a while since I can claim to have heard something that sounds fairly new, even in these days where avant-garde metal and jazz influences seem to have crept in a most lacklustre fashion into every musical genere but hip-hop... admittedly, my excitement may be a tad overstated because Watch Them Die don't do anything particularly ground-breaking - it's just that their intriguing blend of muscular, Hatebreed-esque metalcore, high velocity Slayer-isms, dual vocalists who deal out yells, grunts and black metal-esque screeches in equal measure, and somewhat unhinged lead guitar work actually sounds fresh. And more impressively than that, WTD haven't fallen into the old trap of developing a signature sound then sticking so rigidly to the template that every song sounds the same. Every song on the album works in its own right.
For instance, 'Fall From Grace' contains an excellent thrash metal styled solo, which leads on to a mid-paced headbanging metal section with growled vocals which itself leads on to some excellent dual-guitar harmonising backed with melodious bass runs, before heading straight back into a high-velocity thrash-a-thon. Meanwhile, album closer 'Resurrection' easily wins out as the most unsettling and disturbing metal track I've heard in a long time - the dual vocalist's sinister spoken words, yells and screeches backed by the sweet, innocent vocalisations of guest singer Akko Mello, while the music switches from fragile, clean guitar picking to crushing, jarring metallic monstrousness. Elsewhere on the album, 'The Struggle' begins with a catchy as hell militaristic drumming intro before exploding straight into perhaps the fastest thrash riffage on the album.
It all hangs together well, the production is crisp and the guitar tones are harsh enough to have bite but not so overdriven as to lose the melody carefully woven into the songs, and the variation within the album retains interest. All in all, a very impressive debut from an incredibly promising group!
8/10
2003 - Century Media Records
By Philip Whitehouse
Go to the Century Media website.
Something different, at last! It's been a while since I can claim to have heard something that sounds fairly new, even in these days where avant-garde metal and jazz influences seem to have crept in a most lacklustre fashion into every musical genere but hip-hop... admittedly, my excitement may be a tad overstated because Watch Them Die don't do anything particularly ground-breaking - it's just that their intriguing blend of muscular, Hatebreed-esque metalcore, high velocity Slayer-isms, dual vocalists who deal out yells, grunts and black metal-esque screeches in equal measure, and somewhat unhinged lead guitar work actually sounds fresh. And more impressively than that, WTD haven't fallen into the old trap of developing a signature sound then sticking so rigidly to the template that every song sounds the same. Every song on the album works in its own right.
For instance, 'Fall From Grace' contains an excellent thrash metal styled solo, which leads on to a mid-paced headbanging metal section with growled vocals which itself leads on to some excellent dual-guitar harmonising backed with melodious bass runs, before heading straight back into a high-velocity thrash-a-thon. Meanwhile, album closer 'Resurrection' easily wins out as the most unsettling and disturbing metal track I've heard in a long time - the dual vocalist's sinister spoken words, yells and screeches backed by the sweet, innocent vocalisations of guest singer Akko Mello, while the music switches from fragile, clean guitar picking to crushing, jarring metallic monstrousness. Elsewhere on the album, 'The Struggle' begins with a catchy as hell militaristic drumming intro before exploding straight into perhaps the fastest thrash riffage on the album.
It all hangs together well, the production is crisp and the guitar tones are harsh enough to have bite but not so overdriven as to lose the melody carefully woven into the songs, and the variation within the album retains interest. All in all, a very impressive debut from an incredibly promising group!
8/10
