Razend – White Goat II

[nyrating]

16th April 2016 Reinier de Vries Album Reviews 1

There are just a few thrash bands with female singers, Belgium has Bliksem and in the Netherlands there is Razend. Razend is dutch for raging or furious, which is of course a very fitting name for a thrash band. Insiders will recognize some members in the line up of the in 1989 founded doom/death band Acrostichon or the death/thrash band Outburst. When Outburst stopped, the lot of the members continued as Razend and asked former Acrostichon vocalist Corinne van de Brand to join them. With this change, also the music became more melodic thrash/speed and less death. In 2013 the band recorded the 5-track White Goat, which can also be found back on this new release.

The album starts with an aggressive thrash song, which reminds me a bit of Laaz Rockit also because of the rather high singing style of Corinne. Perhaps she doesn’t sing clear all the time, but her dedication convinces me. That she has different singing styles also counts for her. This makes the band a little different from the regular melodic thrash combo. In the next more groovy track she uses a more rawer and harsher voice and in “Boktor Of Horror” she shows that she is a great grunter also. The guitar riffs sound crunchy and are mixed in just right.

“Time” is the longest track on the album; starting in a rather doomy style with theatrical singing, bursting out into a violent aggressive track half way, to finish as it started. The band is influenced by Forbidden, Flotsam and Jetsam and several other Bay Area thrash bands. The guitar parts in combination with the singing style in “FYAG” remind me a bit of Megadeth and Laaz Rockit. After a soft instrumental short track the next 2 songs continue in the same melodic thrash/speed style. The production of White Goat II is better and heavier than on White Goat I. You can hear that the band developed their style. The songs have more variety in tempo and style, which makes them more interesting. Nice album!

Line up:

Jos van den Brand – guitars
Corinne van den Brand – vocals
Tim Verheijden – drums
Arvid Kuipers – guitars
Tijn van der Vloet – bass

Tracklist:

White Goat II

01. Girl in the Mirror
02.Wingless
03. Boktor Of Horror
04. Time
05. FYAG
06. The Promise Of Hope
07. Substantia Nigra

White Goat

08. I Know
09. Pain Of Loss
10. Stop Pressuring Me
11. No Cure For Dementia
12. You And I As One

Playing time: 50:00

Release date: 2016

Label: Self Release

Website: www.facebook.com/razendband

About Reinier de Vries 188 Articles

Once a metal head, always a metalhead. My parents thought it would only be a period, but they were wrong. I quit to explain the beauty of metal music to others that are not into metal, because it is something you can't tell in words... It is like explaining to a teetotaller why a cold beer is so nice on a hot day... I started with bands like Accept, Metal Church, Iron Maiden and Metallica in the eighties and I think I will still listen to them when I'm stone deaf and old...