One of the issues with being an old fart like myself is you sometimes get out of the habit of checking out the new up and coming bands and rely on the old faithfuls. So when I recently had to trek up north again for a number of work assignments, I decided to grab a number of albums by bands I’d not heard of before, just to see what nuggets there may be hiding out there.
First up was this debut release by ’s Tantrum – a death/thrash influenced band actually formed over 15 years ago but split in 2003. Several years later, a couple of founding got together and reformed the band. Originally self-released last year, Devirginized is being released officially on Inverse Records now that Tantrum have signed with them.
And so with the first album I picked to listen to, a nugget has been found. Opening with some elecronica, a bit of quiet guitar and a little solo over the top, I was lulled for the first 48 seconds and then SMACK! and “Time to Fight” really gets going. I’m instantly nodding along and I’m hooked – good work fellas! And that nodding continues on for the rest of the EP.
One thing that I keep getting a sense of is the Death’n’Roll sound of the album – you can hear an Entombed influence, and sometimes even a bit of the Swansong-era Carcass sound. And there is some early Gorefest in there too – vocalist Johannes even sounding quite like Gorefest’s Jan-Chris de Koeijer at times.
Give the EP a listen over on their Facebook page (linked below) and then grab it when it does get released later this month. If these guys can deliver the same aggression and influence on a full length release, then there might be a bigger nugget in the future.
A word of warning: before you embark on listening to the closing track “Cursed in Eternity”, go take a little breather and maybe grab a beer or two. At just shy of 5 minutes long, it packs a lot in but suffers in no way at all; magnificent.
Tantrum: facebook
