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Roarback

Echoes Of Pain

Written by: PP on 16/01/2014 00:04:12

When I previously encountered Roarback in 2012, the Danish unit sounded like an amateur thrash metal band that needed much work before even starting to consider recording an album. I also recommended them to stick with pure thrash metal and drop the macho/testosterone driven Pantera/Sepultura worship. For their debut album "Echoes of Pain", the band has heeded mine and others' advice, and have finally delivered a thrash metal effort that's worth taking seriously.

If they were bay-area inspired in the past, now Roarback are fully engulfed in Slayerland with razor-sharp solos delivered at insane speeds that take you straight back to "Reign In Blood" days and other late 80s thrash albums from the Bay Area. The riffing is ultra-tight, as well as inventive and varied enough to sound like they mean business. Granted, the vocals are still grunted and growled in a manner that should bring to mind really old Mastodon recordings (think back to "Remission" or even the first two EPs), and they still aren't where Roarback stand strongest, but at least they deliver some evil-sounding, twisted thrash metal riffs to compensate.

Playing-wise, the band have improved as well. Most of the timing issues and sense of looseness from their EP are now removed, although moments still exist where the double pedal blast-beat pummeling sounds a little off (see: towards the end of "Voices of Deception" or the first minute of "My World"), but this isn't nearly as big of a problem as it was before. It's a good effort, and although it's still a far cry from being international class within thrash metal, it contains enough tight thrashing to lift some eyebrows on the national level.

Download: Wrong Manis Life, People's Hate, I Will Find You
For the fans of: Slayer, Exodus, Testament, Kreator
Listen: Facebook

Release date 27.01.2014
Mighty Music