Scythe Beast is ready to roar again!
Formed in 2012, the band led by Gregor Pfau (vocals), Andreas Tegeler (drums), Sven Stoppelberg (guitar/backing vocals), Frank Schwenker (guitar), and Hendrik Schelenz (bass) is releasing its third album, Anthem of the Rotten, this year!
The album opens with Ravenous, which gives us a chance to catch our breath before racing ahead at full speed with devastating riffs and abrasive saturation, somewhere between Melodic Death and explosive Thrash Metal. The vocals contribute to the constant aggression, which barely lets up when the guitar and bass take the lead, then the pace slows down noticeably with Beast, which perfectly embraces its catchy Old School roots. The track is quite groovy, taking advantage of a jerky approach to really hit hard with a few accelerations, particularly on the chorus and solo, then it’s with Anthem of the Rotten, the eponymous track, that the band charges ahead and pours out darkness and dissonant harmonics. There is a short pause before the final eruption, then The Seance takes over with a contrast between its heavy rhythm and some more occult tones, but the track embraces its vindictive stance before moving on to the equally virulent Spawn of the Stillborn Lord, which doesn’t even let us catch our breath before striking. No surprises here with this track, which shifts from a double pedal avalanche to brutal blasts in the blink of an eye, nor on Heirloom, which, although a little longer, remains in the furious vein of Death/Thrash Metal under the vocalist’s fire, taking advantage of certain moments to allow harmonics to come and tear us apart. Some passages are perfect for headbangers, but the visceral final heralds the transition to Purify by Flame, which starts slowly and with an ominous sound before settling into its cruising pace and proving very effective, taking advantage of its natural groove between two choruses. The sound becomes morbid again for the doom roots of The Carrion Marshes, then finally very melancholic when the roars join the mix, which remains fairly gentle until a totally unexpected explosion that makes the rest of the song much wilder. The track returns to its initial slowness to die in its filth, then picks up steam again on Warp, the last composition, which once again takes advantage of its most stirring influences to give us one last chance to bang our heads frantically before closing the album.
With its roots in Death, Thrash, and furious melodies, Scythe Beast hits hard! While Anthem of the Rotten returns to the basics of these styles to offer an extremely aggressive and abrasive Old School sound, the album does not copy the successes of the genres and will leave us with a sore neck for quite some time.
85/100
