From Germany comes the debut album from Ravager.
I have to give them credit. You wouldn’t have thought they’d only formed over the last couple of years. You certainly wouldn’t have guessed the drummer decided to learn drums because after forming they couldn’t get a drummer they thought was right for the job. Initially the bass player, Andre Sawade has very impressively taken on this role. You’d have thought he’d been doing it his whole life. Commendable skills and dedication to the band.
There’s a distinctive sound with a lot of German thrash that I suppose is the European equivalent of the American bay area thrash scene. This is everything you want from a thrash band. Ok, some of the songs are cliched in their themes. ‘Deathbringer’, ‘Human Sacrifice’ and ‘The Walking Dead’ are hardly original titles or themes but they don’t have to be because they’re hard hitting and fun to listen to. I could see a lot of people losing it at a Ravager gig. It’s not hard to guess where they have been influenced – I’m gonna guess Slayer and Kreator had a lot to do with it. It’s not particularly new. The formula is a tried and tested one over decades, and it works. In that respect, it isn’t the most creative of debuts, but they’re hitting the right places for what the majority of thrash fans will greatly enjoy.
The signature piece for the album has got to be ‘Alarm Clock Terror’ in my opinion. I mean, for a start alarm clocks literally can just fuck off. A very small but noticeable Slayer riff recycling for a few seconds two and a half minutes in can be forgiven for a thrash song about a guy being genuinely mortified by his alarm clock.
The album is released in February and I’m told a tour follows. Definitely worth checking out for thrash fans. Metal fans who aren’t in to thrash might be less enthused because there isn’t much we haven’t heard before, but I’d still encourage people to give it a shot. It’s their debut too, they’ve got time to grow and I would really like to see that. A decent effort that leaves a good first impression.
Track list:
1. Burn the cross
2. Deathbringer
3. Human sacrifice
4. War without end
5. The walking dead
6. Superior forces
7. Unknown dreams
8. Trapped inside
9. Dr. Mad
10. Alarm clock terror
Playing time: 40:31
Relase date: 17/2/17
Label: Iron Shield Records
Website: www.facebook.de/ravagerthrash
Leave a Reply