Review Summary: Hangover metal
It is January 2nd, 2011 and I am sitting in front of my computer screen with a still-prevalent hangover, thinking why the hell am I sitting inside. But screw it, there are no good parties today that I know of and the weather outside sucks anyway. So, at least at the moment, I actually prefer sitting here, amidst the unpleasant smell of my sweat-drenched balls and cigarette smoke, because my damn friends don’t have no limits when it comes to smoking. I should probably take a shower, but I have managed to lose the key to my sauna (yeah, it has a lock; how retarded is that?) and since I can't be bothered to conduct a comprehensive search at the moment, I am self-forced to slowly drown in my own stench. In the light of this, there is no better time to listen to some pissed off shit, and you know what, why not even review said pissed off shit. So here it is, my review of Ektomorf's latest album,
Redemption. It's some pissed off shit people.
This Hungarian groove/thrash four-piece has been going strong for over 15 years now, pumping out stellar, if overly similar records back to back. They are like the European equivalent of Soulfly, so I choose to call their particular groove metal style nu-thrash, seeing as it’s thrashy, but also has sections that remind me of nu metal a lot, so nu-thrash makes sense, right? Anyway, I am not here to dispute over that with you my dear readers, but rather I am here to tell you that Redemption is another solid outing from Ektomorf. It sounds exactly like you'd expect it to, if you’ve ever heard Ektomorf, Soulfly or newer Sepultura. Chunky ’n’ groovy guitar riffs that borrow as much from thrash as they do from nu metal are abound, with vocalist Zoltan Farkas reminding me of an European Max Cavalera. The music is nice and thick, if overly simple, with power chords and chug riffs being the keywords for the guitar department. It sounds pretty loud, and that is cool I guess. Also, I am a total sucker for groovy riffs, no matter how simple they are, so that explains why I can listen to the entire catalogue by these guys and still be happy with almost every release they have put out, despite the fact they haven't changed their sound much since coming together in 1994.
That’s not to say that there is no progression or differentiation at all to be found here. While their 2009 effort
What Doesn’t Kill Me… was slightly leaning on the thrashy side, then
Redemption is definitely groovier and there are more melodies to be found here, although they are still sparse. The record is also more consistent as a whole and this year I can say that with a confidence, since I gave the album the time to fully sink in this time around (last year I wrote a review for
What Doesn’t Kill Me... after having the album for a mere few days – a mistake so many reviewers around here regretfully make - and of course I proclaimed the album to be awesome while in all honesty now, a year later, I’ll just say it’s a good record). The only thing that I really don’t appreciate here is the overbearing angst. There are so many "***"’s and "kill"’s flying around that I feel like I am caught in the middle of a two-way street and both ends are blocked by raging Gypsys.
But as a whole,
Redemption is another solid album by Ektomorf. It’s simplistic, loud, angry, yet it’s also kind of fun and makes for a good and easy listen. Taking into account that the end/start of a year is always slow as far as good releases go,
Redemption is a good metal album to look into until something truly bombastic comes out.
