Had no idea what to expect here, so I was pleasantly surprised to hear a fairly Frosty guitar tone and old school-influenced, mid-paced riffs. I wouldn't object at all to calling this death metal for convenience, but at the same time, that doesn't feel quite right, either. The actual music has obvious Celtic Frost/Hellhammer influences that go beyond just the guitar tone, but it's nowhere near the level of any of the worship bands. Happily, they do throw in a single "HEY!" at the beginning of "Feasting Time."
The Frosty guitars lend the music a certain doominess, but since the album's tempo rarely slows below mid-paced, the music doesn't feel as close to CF emulation as other bands. The vocals are gruffer in style than growly/guttural, another aspect which makes it feel less overtly death metal sounding. There's also somewhat of a black metal undercurrent to the music at times, which I think is another result of Hellhammer and CF influence. It definitely has some of that early extreme metal vibe before the subgenres started branching away from each other on more codified paths, and that's why it seldom feels like full-on death metal even though it leans towards DM stylistically.
Along those lines, it makes me think of some of Scepter's early material, even though there are few superficial similarities. Noisemaster are nowhere near as blatantly Celtic Frost-sounding, and they never get as slow, thrashy, or traditional as Scepter did. Also, despite what I said before about Noisemaster being quite removed from the typical worship bands, if you were to make a Warhammer album consisting solely of more mid-paced material, significantly turned down the most blatant Hellhammer emulation, and ramped up the Frost-inspired DM influence, I think you'd land in the general vicinity of the Noisemaster sound.
This was a pleasant listen, but I will admit it didn't leave much of a lasting impression. I wish the songwriting had been a little stronger and made for more distinct tracks. Well worth the 2 bucks, but I can't see myself often picking this to listen over something like say, Pentacle.
No comments:
Post a Comment