Achren | ‘Fury Of The Northmen’

Glasgow’s Achren are ploughing a furrow here that has been ploughed one too many times before for my liking, so the pressure’s on to see what they can do different. Its that standard noisy death metal with a few black rasps and a bit of uncomplicated melody very similar to what many an English band has been doing over the last few years (Im thinking of The Enchanted, Bloodstream and Solace Denied), and its lack of any kind of sophistication means that the tunes have to be impeccable.

First off the production is very messy, boomy and clattering, with a snare drum that sounds as deep as a bin - maybe the guys need to look at something a bit snappier for their pacy drive, because this thing just takes up too much room in the mix. But once it all settles down a bit we can hear some good things, especially the title track’s main riff which uses some nice chords and which the band would be advised to indulge in a lot more of.

Closer “The Forgotten King” goes in this direction as well, and provides probably the demo’s highlight. Songs like “Purge” however are boring and directionless with little motive force, and I think time taken to maybe add a little pizazz and flavour before the next demo will reap rewards. At present its just a little too chaotic and unrefined, but the potential is there if they keep working at it.

2 / 5 - Earl Grey ::: 22/04/04