VULTURE
Victim To The Blade
(High Roller Records)
16:41min

There’s something to be said for bringing back the old school sound of Thrash we all know and love, right down to the 80s style band logo and leather-wearing, JUDAS PRIEST influenced band members. Sir Rob Halford would be proud. And if you’re a band trying to attain this sort of thing, you better make damn sure you deliver. And Germany’s VULTURE certainly do. 2016’s "Victim To The Blade" is a celebration of everything we pumped our fist to in the days when we were able to finally shake off the constraints of parents’ limitations and grow our hair long, while ripping the sleeves off our t-shirts and tearing holes in our jeans. But VULTURE aren’t simply a flashback to the glory days of early Thrash, they keep it fresh in a way that doesn’t seem copycat Metal. And they play their anthems with a strong will and glorifying intensity to bring snarls on all of our faces. The first track ‘Vulture’ says to the listener, "This is who we are. Fucking deal with it and bang the shit out of your head". There’s no silly half-growling half-clean singing such as younger upstarts in today’s world try to toss at us thinking they’re heavy, but simply more whiney than anything else. No way. VULTURE shows the kids how it’s done. ‘D.T.D. (Delivered To Die)’, and don’t we all love abbreviations in our old school Metal, is another Thrash fest with anthemic qualities and a background chorus by band members who were taught by the best from the forefathers of the genre. ‘Victim To The Blade’ carries on with throttling, regurgitating guitars, breakneck drumming and screeching high-pitched vocals we’ve come to pray for in our Metal. And then there’s the final song ‘Rapid Fire’, a JUDAS PRIEST cover to set you on fire with a little nostalgia and a lot of classic style aural bliss (and hardly recognizable since VULTURE made it completely their own – Frank). There’s not a damn mediocre song on "Victim To The Blade" (which is pretty impressive indeed, considering that this is a re-release of their demo! – Frank). I tip my hat to VULTURE and swear my obedience to their mastery of all things Thrash. For more band information, check out www.vulturekills.com or www.facebook.com/vulturekills, label contact: www.hrrecords.de

David Simonton

David Simonton

Related reviews / interviews:
VULTURE - The Guillotine (Marco Stebich)
VULTURE - Interview (Marco Stebich)

Leave a Reply