Review by George on July 9, 2020.

Valtari was brought to my attention a few weeks ago by someone claiming his newest album to be "a mix of old Dissection and Amorphis". Any band which cites those two as their influences is an offer I simply can't refuse, and so I was immediately inclined to give it a listen.

Truth is, while Dissection and Amorphis certainly do play a role in the melodic package the band offers, I'd much sooner liken it to several other derivative third-wave bands, the Brymirs, Nothgards and Aetherians of the melodeath underground. Valtari fit quite neatly within the box of conventional melodeath, which can be taken positively or negatively. The guitars do all the talking, so there's no shoehorning in of clean vocals or gimmicky folk instruments, but at the same time you won't find the tastefully crafted atmosphere seen in Duskmourn and Shylmagoghnar's works, nor, indeed, the clean and befitting inclusion of folk instruments and clean vocals in, for example, later Amorphis.

That's all the things Origin Enigma is not. What it is can be summarized as such: it's mid-paced melodeath that churns through melodies like a well-oiled machine. The riffs are good - melodic, euphonic guitar lines supported by very typical mid-range vocals and drumming with the occasional guitar solo, quieter section or keyboard line thrown in for good measure. At 40 minutes long the album goes by in a whirl of harmony, and this is one thing I feel he got right; any shorter and it would scarcely be worth listening to at all, and any longer would make it drag on and become a chore. But for a fun, light-hearted listen, the length is perfect.

But while catchy and fun are both accurate descriptions of the music, a key complaint I have is the lack of staying power - it's just melodic death metal. Good melodic death metal sure, but if you asked me to name one thing that sets these guys apart from all the bands I previously mentioned, I really would not be able to. The guitarwork is both technically skilled and well-composed, but not one melody from the whole album stuck with me after I finished listening.

Origin Enigma an album for the melodeath fans who know what they like and like what they know, making up for what it lacks in innovation with consistent vivacity. If that was what the project's mastermind intended to be, then he has succeeded.

Rating: 7 out of 10

Review by Vladimir on July 9, 2024.

June was one hell of a month with all the numerous releases coming out from all parts of the world, some of which could be easily missed in this metal storm that brings this enormous wave of albums. Although a couple of weeks have passed, there is still a lot of feedback and hype surrounding a lot of those albums which came out in that period, and such is the case with the blackened thrash/speed metal band Wraith with their fourth album Fueled By Fear, released on June 28th, 2024 via Prosthetic Records. Without any further ado, let’s take a look at this one mean motherfucker.

After entering the 'Asylum', you quickly become 'Fueled By Fear' as Wraith comes striking with missiles, carrying very lethal blackened thrash/speed metal full of tight riffs, maniacal guitar solos, harsh shouting vocals, thunderous drumming, with an added punk overdrive that gives an extra edge to this merciless onslaught. Along the way, you will come across a lot of fast and aggressive bangers, very remarkable and wicked ones such as 'Merchant Of Death' and 'Heathen’s Torch', but you will also hear some cool killer slow tracks as well, or some nice hybrid examples like 'Warlord' which nicely transitions from mid-tempo on the first half to the punky d-beat on the second half. The further it progresses, the more you become Fueled By Fear with every next track that comes to play, as the album becomes even heavier and more intense with each wild riff that punches you right in the face like a real bastard. Overall, this album guarantees plenty of good time to be had throughout its entirety, delivering on all aspects of musical heaviness from start to finish, never slowing down or dropping the ball by one bit. It’s got an everlasting strength and quality to it which was carries over from one song to another, partly due to the general stylistic consistency of Fueled By Fear which never breaks away from its established style and formula, always keeping everything on same level while still leaving plenty of space to throw in some more thrash metal extravaganza just for good measure.

The songwriting here is met with a lot of musical simplicity and straightforward approach in the traditional speed/thrash metal fashion, but the album also has plenty of dynamics, with there being frequent tempo changes and various riff ideas that successfully manage to entertain and engage the listener. Wraith does a pretty good job on this album by maintaining an even level of heaviness while still keeping it clean and interesting for the most part, never missing an opportunity to bring down the wall and throw in a lot of headbanging action. While listening to Fueled By Fear, it’s very noticeable that the band’s output is for the most part familiar to anyone who digs similar bands such as Midnight, Toxic Holocaust, Hellripper, Night Slasher and All Hell just to name a few, with this blackened thrash/speed metal jacked up by the raw energy of hardcore/crust punk/d-beat that gives an extra fuel to the fire. This is by no means a weakness or a flaw, but rather a symbol that shows how something so simple and frequent can still be as effective and catchy as before, and it never feels empty or spineless. What stands out about the album is that it has a strong punch to it, carrying out with each track that does the album such justice and payoff, all thanks to the band’s furious performance and inspired songwriting that gets the job done. On the final note, the production of the album was nicely handled by the mixing and mastering of CJ Rayson, with a top-notch sound that has a bit of rawness and dirtiness to it as well, providing a nice example of contemporary blackened thrash/speed metal with punk laden elements.

Fueled By Fire is a very fun and enjoyable album all the way through, constantly delivering headbanging tunes and still staying rotten to the core with its power and pain. The final result is a very solid and kickass 45-minute release by a band such as Wraith, that knows how to do things around here, without any pretentiousness or display of lackluster nature. You should definitely check this one out if you are into dirty and uncompromising black/thrash/speed metal.

Rating: 8.4 out of 10

Review by Alex on August 4, 2020.

A snake! look!, advancing from the sea, its hiss and rattle inciting disturbia, its stare paralyzes, and its bite anoints the soul with evils old. Vassafor will consume you, extinguish the light from all corners of your soul and enslave your mind. This has been the story since comrades of Temple Nightside and the abominable Grave Upheaval first set foot on sanctified grounds. The excitement ushered in with the announcement of the band's next lethal installment, To the Death, is beyond measure. A one-hour ceremony in adoration of forces unseen but felt far too often to ignore or be deemed nonexistent.

Set for an August release alongside Temple Nightside's "Pillars of Damnation", To the Death strikes the listener as not only the most corrupt and spoilt fruits of Vassafor, but also a record within its own league of ritualistic death metal.

'To the Death' may be the best death metal song I've heard so far for the year. Its wicked, riffs are served up buffet style, and the drumming has so many variations it's impossible to have asked for more. I'm also interested in finding out who's the woman on the spoken samples, her presence ups the vilification on this track, though a bit of a seductress tone is emitted from her voice. Then starting out as a 2nd wave black metal march, 'Egregore Rising' transforms with a surreal movement into something more complex and unpleasant. Still with the touch of compositional adept and the vocal taint of the serpent merchant himself VK, it demonstrates Vassafor's long standing ability to go from strength to strength in-so following up a flawless introduction with a song equipped in all departments with the mighty ichor of Vassafor.

No disrespect, but To the Death makes bargain-bin black/death metal sound like Sunday-school church music. The fumes radiating from this thing are sickening; a twisted, contagious, pelting of obscenities indiscriminately. You aren't safe even when behind cover, the potency is much too strong to be evaded. Take 'Emanations From the Abyss' or the monolithic, 'Singularity', those tracks alone could squash the alleged 'efforts' of countless bands trying desperately to create worthwhile black/death metal. They form so innocently with hidden intentions to the naive, then like a serpent, they strike venomously with sections mustering only to exert their most vicious and instrumentally elevated compositions.

A shift occurs on 'Emanations from the Abyss', the vocals here are not the same as heard throughout the rest of To the Death, I really don't think these are VK's vocals, nevertheless they sound fitting considering how the overall tone of the album sounds starved of the bass, so the vocals slice instead of crush. Meanwhile, 'Singularity' escorts the listener through halls of horror, featuring strange ambient sounds of creatures it seems and a continuation of the splendid riff wizardry, execrable tongues and pestering drumming.

I've always had admiration for the distinction of the bands in that Australian and New Zealand circles being Grave Upheaval, Temple Nightside, Ill Omen and Impetuous Ritual. Each has a sound and method characteristic to themselves. These bands share members but have not forgotten to give each entity its solitary identity. Vassafor in particular takes the scenic route to their destination with releases jumping the boundary of 1 hour. Vocals nurtured within the stomach and uttered through the teeth and guitar riffs that straight slaughter. Their methodology sounds like they are trying intensely to decrypt the engraved sigils on some ancient artifact excavated from the depths of Egyptian soil.

At a point To the Death had been neck-in-neck with Malediction in terms of musicianship; however, better riffs pushed the material over the threshold of what the previous entry accomplished, thus making To the Death, Vassafor's best and most successful undertaking to date.

The tapestry of this ailing wanderer continues to hold dearly the keys to a dominion of unforgivable mischief guarded by Iron Bonehead Records.

Rating: 9.7 out of 10