Another blast from Rankken!
Now signed to Adipocere Records, the band led by David Pires (guitar/vocals), Yann Taibi (drums), and David Smolinski (guitar), joined by Cédric Vassal (bass), is releasing its third album, There Will Be Blood.
The band kicks things off with title track There Will Be Blood which immediately delivers solid riffs in the purest Thrash/Death tradition, making us bang our heads even before the vocals kick in – and those are just as effective. The catchy chorus hits at a brisk pace, but the band doesn’t hesitate to pick up the tempo and unleash its sharp harmonics, just as on the highly jagged A Bullet with My Name, which takes over and gives the drums an interesting amount of freedom to energize the rhythm section. There’s still a touch of darkness amid the violence, and even the sample meant to disrupt the progression becomes oppressive before the band shifts gears toward Break the Fake and its immediate aggression. The vocal parts are sometimes slightly different while maintaining a heavy dynamic, and the machine plows ahead at its cruising speed before giving way to From Hatred to Pain, which weaves its unsettling Old School leads only to gradually ignite into a full-blown frenzy, urging us to headbang. Raw energy continues with The Void Within and its riffs infused with groovy Heavy Metal, and the guitars also treat us to a few sections featuring piercing leads before suddenly exploding into Hundred Thousand Lives, which kicks off with a bang to unleash all its rage. There’s still a hint of oppression during the break even before the siren kicks off the furious solo, but the band shifts back to livelier tones with Oil and Blood, a catchy track that’s sure to get more than one mosh pit moving with its ever-present bass that pounds relentlessly. Chaos A.I. takes over, reigniting the groove with a simple yet effective mid-tempo rhythm before exploding to unleash its energy, at times returning to a heady heaviness as it hammers home its message, then comes Rend the Flesh, which has the daunting task of closing out the album – which does so with dark tones ultimately intertwined with the band’s signature violence.
If you love the blistering the 90sThrash but also have a taste for Death Metal, Rankken is the perfect choice! There’s nothing complicated about There Will Be Blood, and although no one would have turned down an extra track, the album is a factory of killer riffs!
80/100