Hailing from my hometown of Glasgow, Scotland, Achren are very much rising stars on the UK metal scene. Having won the Metal To The Masses competition that earned them a place on the UK's Bloodstock bill last year and then places at Wacken and Metal Camp this year, the future is looking very bright for the purveyors of "Blood Metal".
I have been listing to their 2006 EP a fair bit over the past week. Clocking in at 15 minutes of bludgeoning blackened death metal, it gives a good indication as to why the band are poised to storm Europe this summer in a blaze of blood, beards and Buckfast.
First song
Impaled is now a live favourite and has a strange, off kilter rhythm to the drumming that grabs the attention. Singer Scott Anderson's vocals are also very arresting, switching from low death growls to blood-curdling black metal shrieks with merciless vigour.
Shock and Awe begins with some necro black metal blasting before developing another grooving rhythm. What's impressive about the way Achren construct their music is the amount of varying riffs and tempo changes they cram into their songs. It's not done in any sort of wanky prog fashion but executed in such a way that it carries across the band's intense desire to simply rock as hard as they possibly fucking can.
And nowhere do they show this better than on closer
Bastards (On the Gallows Or Bastards On the Rack). A torrent of screeched vocals and tremolo guitar work awaits you as the song pulverises the soul for it's short but memorable three and a half minutes.
All in all a well produced and thoroughly excellent EP which whets the appetite for the bands first full length.
Style: Blood Metal (Blackened Death)
Rating: 8/10Posted by
Stuart - Monday, March 14, 2011
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