Chris Cleo sinks his fangs into some new death metal from Singapore, here’s what he thinks…

The storms and shadows brew as Singaporean death-metallers ‘Vrykolakas’ unleash their third full-length album ‘And Vrykolakas Brings Chaos and Destruction’.  With an arguable ‘veteran’ status amongst the ranks of death metal acts that is upheld by a career that spans nearly 3 decades from their first 1992 demo, a gap of 10 whole years separates this release with Vrykolakas’ last full length album ‘Unleashing Vrykolakas upon the mankind’.  The band has criss-crossed across the spectrum of death metal, with early releases embracing a raw blackened-death sound and later maturing into a straight brutality-focused old school death metal monolith.  The somewhat original flavour of eastern eschatological lore that Vrykolakas portray so well unites the ever-important third full-length with the rest of the discography, and in this case makes for an enjoyable, replayable behemoth of an album.

Formalities aside – it’s really not uncommon to see extreme metal albums edging near to an hours run time nowadays, and as amazing as epic songs in metal can be, bands with the ‘7-minute+ song fetish’ can write bloated songs that amount to even more bloated albums.  Thankfully this definitely isn’t the case with Vrykolakas.  With an average song length of just under 6 minutes, there are plenty of riffs and different drum patterns to sink your teeth into.  Key sections repeat enough to become memorable and one-off sections appear often enough to keep it interesting, and Vrykolakas balance both aspects perfectly, resulting in an album with listenable songs that have bits that sound new with each spin.

The songs revolve around the standard fast death metal tremolo riffs that dive into half-time chunky rhythms alongside the drums.  Melodically the riffs match the theme of the eastern lore similarly to bands like Nile or Melechesh, but also work in sync with the drum patterns, where the fast beats are played with an almost thrashy edge, allowing the melodic style to work differently here as oppose to the other death metal bands that take the same approach because of this difference in rhythm.  Drum parts follow suit and bounce from upbeat thrashy sections to strictly death metal grooves (think old school Deicide or Suffocation) and are the main creative lick of colour.  For a riff-centric album with only a couple of solos splashed about here and there, the innovation in drum patterns and their synchronisation with the guitar work makes for a new light for these standard trem-riffs to be seen in, and makes them sound fresh without sounding too alien.

Compared to the bands previous works, ‘And Vrykolakas Brings Chaos and Destruction’ shows a definite evolution in musicality and overall sound, with an increase in average track length (albeit not to the point of modern epic death metal) and a cleaner production to help facilitate all the nuances in the drumming.  Against previous Vrykolakas full-length albums, this album makes it apparently clear that the band has more of a classic death metal feel in mind as opposed to the previous albums’ blackened death style.  Granted there has been a 10 year gap between the last LP and this one, various splits, singles and EPs clearly illustrate this growth, with their 2020 EP ‘Into the Shadow of Death’ hinting at this absolute monster of an album.  Vrykolakas show more of their thrashy-death style on this record (GASP… there are no blast beats) and songwriting that focuses on giving each song a clear overall feel which is definitely a positive.

Overall, this attention to musical detail shows nearly 30 years of experience in practice, with a really well functioning album.  It’s not everyday that a band can make 50 minutes not sound like a drag, but can also give you enough meat on each song to make it worth listening to a good few times.  Yes, it’s different from the old, rawer sound that Vrykolakas had once upon a time, but this album is just too good to be tied down by the band’s previous sound.  Fans of this style of metal can really get behind this album and can look forward to the chaos and destruction, because Vrykolakas are really bringing it. 

VRYKOLAKAS – AND VRYKOLAKAS BRINGS CHAOS AND DESTRUCTION was released on July the 1st and is available via BandCamp

Paul Hutchings takes a trip down memory lane with a listen to the first three releases by Sacred Reich

2019 and the first Sacred Reich album in 23 years finally arrived with Awakening. It saw the return of Dave McClain to the drum stool he’s occupied from 1991 to 1997and the arrival of Joey Radziwill on rhythm guitar. The band’s played a smattering of shows through the UK and it was evident that Sacred Reich 2019 was still a relevant thrash beast. Fast forward through 2020 (and why would you linger?) and we arrive in 2021 and three reissues from Metal Blade.

First up is Ignorance, the fiery debut released in 1987. Whilst not as refined as the sophomore album, Ignorance is a stellar debut. Few albums can match the power of the opening double of long-time favourite Death Squad and Victim of Demise. There’s little to quibble about, even 34 years after it was first released. Phil Rind’s vocals were more urgent, and probably a little less controlled than they are today. His bass playing anchors everything and there are some magnificent forays into the land of Steve Harris at times as he moves his instrument into pole position. There’s the clear Megadeth influence on the instrumental Layed to Rest, an opportunity to slow things down whilst allowing guitarists Wiley Arnett and Jason Rainey to show their chops.The title track remains a monstrous song, with drummer Greg Hall nailing everything with ease. I love the build-up which suddenly explodes into a stomping mosh pit classic. At 32 minutes it’s not a long listen. The general intensity of the record is such that it feels even shorter but once Administrative Decision sends you have the option to listen to the 30th anniversary bonus track of Ignorance from the Metal Massacre VIII album or head back to Death Squad to spin it again. 

It took a year from the release of Ignorance for the next Sacred Reich release to arrive but in October 1988 the now legendary Surf Nicaragua arrived. A song that would define how the band were viewed forevermore, there are plenty of reviews that are sour about the musical direction that the band were taking after the explosive debut. And in some respects, this six-track EP is pretty weak. The title track contains a bit of surfing anthem Wipe Outin the middle, and its formulaic, Anthrax style thrash can leave some a bit cold. It’s of a time when thrash was the thing and bands were churning out some average music. One Nation is a classic example, a real filler of a song whilst the cover of War Pigs was nothing to get excited about. Draining You of Life did at least hark back to the raw power of Ignorance. Two live tracks were standard for an EP of this type but it’s still worth a blast from time to time if you have 20 minutes to fill.

“Musically, we’ve tried to expand our horizons without forgetting our roots. Some people will appreciate the changes. Others, let’s just say, they’d be satisfied with ‘Ignorance II'”. So spoke Phil Rind after the release of 1990’s The American Way, the last album to feature Greg Hall. It’s an album that’s nowhere as ferocious as the debut, but the more polished sound still sounds good today. Rind’s lyrics continued to make social commentary, and there is still ample opportunity to get your thrash on. The title track remains a live anthem, the power of opener Love … Hate still ticks the box. Granted it’s not as visceral but the playing is tight, the musicianship a notch or two up from Ignorance and in the central pillars of the album, the six-minute double of Crimes Against Humanity and State of Emergency, there could be no doubt where Rind’s lyrical focus was. The rage of Who’s to Blame reflected the scrutiny the metal world was under following fan suicides, and then there is 31 Flavours. Sacred Reich’s marmite track: a funk rock closer, it still divides opinion but to be honest, it just makes me smile every time I hear it. 

Three records that established Sacred Reich as a much-loved thrash outfit. The excitement when it was revealed that they were writing new material proved it. There’s rarely an excuse needed to play these releases and the reissues, despite being relatively close to previous 30th anniversary editions will give the band deserved attention, hopefully a few dollars in the pocket and new fans to boot.

All three albums are revised by Metal Blade on the 12th February 2021and well worth picking up if you aren’t old enough to own the originals or are just a Sacred Reich completest!