Vredehammer
Violator
Indie Recordings
March 18th, 2016
With their first release, Vinteroffer, the Norwegian formation of Vredehammer awakened the unstoppable force of their diabolical blend of death and black metal. Striking hard with the next album, the band gathers its strength to attack with the merciless wrath hammer once again. Is this album ready to violate the Norwegian metal scene? Behold the real Violator!
During your first contact with Violator, you can straight away say it is an intensive record. This incredibly aggressive and vicious theme of the first song gives a lot of hope for the entire album. It is Spawn Tyrant, however, which assures you about the excellence of the new Vredehammer creation. The fantastic and very engaging riff of that song simply cannot leave you indifferent to the music. Some ultra-fast sections are spread out nicely on the whole album making Violator the properly flexible composition. Frequent thrash metal overtones add some more character to this Norwegian demon. The general intensity is emphasized by very pure sound of Violator which makes it a perfect album for the fans of technical musicianship. In spite of that, there are some melodic flavours which form a great catalyst of the Vredehammer spirit. Also, the unconventional swing of Ursus proves that the band does not limit itself and is ready for some deviations from the accustomed formula. All the fleshy riffs are admirably combined with the thrash/death metal growls which are heavily exposed on the album. That is surely good as Per’s vocals stand out and turn Vredehammer into a real beast.
Violator is an excellent representative of the different side of Norwegian metal scene. I am sure it is what Vredehammer stands for and that Violator is a blueprint of the band’s future. The album implies a lot of common factors from both black and death metal scene and it is definitely the combination which I want to hear. One thing is certain, Vredehammer smashes everything with redoubled potential already making 2016 a significant year in the band’s chronicle.
THE GOAT TAVERN 