Death Ray Vision still wants to fight.
Formed in 2010 in the USA by members of Killswitch Engage and Shadows Fall, the band comprising Pete Cortese (guitar), Mike D’Antonio (bass), Colin Conway (drums), Chris Rosati (guitar) and Keith Bennett (vocals), signed to Metal Blade Records in 2023 and announced the release of No Mercy from Electric Eyes.
Behead the King, the first track, reveals a rather vindictive initial approach, which is later confirmed by energetic riffs with effective Metalcore influences. Motivating vocal parts match this raw groove, but it’s with In Unholy Water and its Hardcore roots that they prove to be the most unifying, thanks in particular to a few Old School backing vocals. There’s a slower moshpart before leads take us to From the Rafters and its straightforward riffs with Thrash harmonics that will have no trouble waking up the pits, then Reaper comes to soothe us with its dissonant but heady melody. It’s not long before the band’s solid rhythms resurface, but they only support the ethereal tones borrowed from Hard Rock, while pure unbridled violence expresses itself on Premature Evisceration, the very short track that follows. The band keeps its aggressive patterns on Praise the War Machine, slightly slowing them down to let us shake our skulls, but also to place epic melodies and motivating clean vocals before Broken Hands of God follows with energetic riffs. Clean vocals tone the rage down again, but it’s still there to molest us before An Iron Age takes over, exploiting its most vivid and catchy Punk roots. The driving sound returns on Armageddon Is the Answer, a relatively happy-sounding track which turns into a catchy but slower-paced rhythm, but it’s still there on O Great Destroyer, a relatively short but lively composition. Crawl Forth the Cowards slows down before bringing heady melodies back to create a relatively calm sound, then the album closes with End Me, which sounds like one of the most effective tracks on stage, whether to kick off a few headbanging sessions or simply to unite an entire pit.
Halfway between Punk and Thrash, Death Ray Vision develops a sound with federative and effective Hardcore influences, making No Mercy from Electric Eyes an album to be heard live immediately.
80/100
