Italian Death Metal band Ragestorm chainsaw their way out of your speakers with enough introductory brutality and modern Thrashy Death Metal know-how to raise the odd eyebrow or two. Then the vocals kick in and you know you’re in for a wild ride. Alternating between deeper and darker, and higher and sharper, the singer can strip paint and cut skin at 100 paces.
This release boasts a tight, precise sound that helps the carnage come alive as it rips and tears everyone around it with a surgical slaughter. The songs are heavy and the band can play.
This is the kind of Metal that excites as it bludgeons. Death Metal it may be but there is also a firm Thrash sensibility at play that informs the songwriting dynamics with more than just mindless brutality. I can also hear a Lamb of God influence; particularly in the vocal department on occasion in certain vocalisations and vocal rhythms and patterns. As for the music I can hear similarities to Byzantine in places. So; imagine Lamb of God and Byzantine coming together to play some tasty At The Gates-style Melodic Death Metal; this should give you a good place to start with the sound they have. They also have guitar solos, which immediately makes me like any band just that little bit more.
This is just their début album and there is already plenty of ideas and talent on display to last them a few albums to come. These ideas are spread out over the entire album, but find a focus in Hari Seldon’s Speech.
A really good collection of songs and a really good start to what will hopefully be bigger things to come.
Top stuff.
Wonderbox Metal 