November 13
LATEST SPITS ABOUT "THE INHUMAN ABERRATION"
4/5 www.pivotalalliance.com
While some term Urkraft as being melodic death metal, it stands to note that theres plenty of tech metal influence in their sound as well. The two styles make for a good combination much of The Inhuman Aberration impresses as a crossbreeding of In Flames and Fear Factory, or an updated version of At The Gates. Keeping that in mind, Urkraft have their own thing going on. You certainly cant add the band to the list of tired, sub-standard imitators on the market these days. Nope, this group is the real deal, as evidenced on the savage, machine-like cut The Only Gods, the powerful stomper This Great Summer and the albums melodically-attuned ripper of a title track.
These Danes impress as having a good sense of what makes a song heavy. Their songwriting is quite dramatic, and the efforts of keyboardist Jeppe Eg are an important part of the equation. Thomas Strmvig Pedersen has a low, raspy growl thats at times similar to that of Shawter of Dagoba and at other times, the singers voice resembles a gruff, European version of Burton C. Bell in his younger days. Each of these factors add up to an enjoyable album on the whole. Urkraft has certainly mastered the craft of making super-heavy music. Although this sort of thing has been done before, these guys do it damn well so listen up.
8.9/10 - means "Highly Recommended" By "Maelstrom.nu"
Urkraft (Danish for "primitive force") play modern thrash metal. Nowadays this description could mean anything one of those melodic, pop-infected death metal bands too embarrassed to keep calling themselves death metal, a re-united thrash band with a new sound and old ideas, or maybe some metalcore band trying to sell more CDs to the metal-oriented audience.
Fortunately, Urkraft are none of those. They actually play modern thrash metal and they kick ass. All hail them.
And they mean business. First of all, there's no intro and they deserve a medal for that fact alone. Now, remember listening to Slaughter of the Soul or The Haunted's debut for the first time? The Inhuman Aberration brings those memories right back. From the opening of "Too Strong for the Strongest Lord," the listener is exposed to an enviable amount of top-quality riffs, highly technical, powerful, fast and, amazingly long. These are not the typical three-chord palm-muted riffs each of them is assembled from several individual ones, played using a different technique for each part and creating an impression of riffs making an inhaling and exhaling entity.
And to make things more amazing, Urkraft don't just repeat those riff-constructions without variation. With all the twists and turns, there's still a constant thrashing beat throughout the album a clinically precise, militaristic beat with a sombre atmosphere coming through. At times the music can become hypnotic, but Urkraft never fail to invent another way of violently restoring your attention just when it might have started slipping away.
The production, done by Tue Madsen in Antfarm Studio, couldn't be stronger and clearer than it is. The keyboards, applied to only the right places and playing only a couple of chords, are so effective that they instantly inject more eeriness than the whole orchestras used by other bands. The drumming is perfect, with Mikael actually being able to accentuate guitars and keep up with them, changing beats without losing the thread, never forgetting his two bass drums and adding a blastbeat or a furious filler just to shake you up. Thomas, the singer, can growl and scream as convincing as the best of them with expressions varying from melodic death metal to hardcore.
The Inhuman Aberration is one of those rare multi-faceted thrash metal albums that don't come along your way very often. You can enjoy it critically, for the sheer technicality of it. You can scream and headbang to it without trying to analyze anything. And you can listen to it in the dark, through your headphones. It always delivers. (8.9/10)
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August 3
VARIOUS REVIEWS for T.I.A.
RAW NERVE PROMOTION: >> The Danish 5 piece give us some fantastic At The Gates style death thrash that mixes pummeling sections and more melodic, harmonious moments. They combine the Swedish sound and very much homegrown influences, with plenty of Iniquity and Konkhra reminiscent times in the riffs and ideas generally. The very atmospheric production also really helps just give this an edge over their previous impressive recordings, as an amazingly crisp guitar sound is laid above cracking drums, smooth keyboards, and alongside diverse vocals. The quality does not relent throughout the whole album and their previous initial promise surrounding the first three releases is more than justified. <<
BLASTING-ZONE: >> Even if you somehow find yourself unable--or you are simply reluctant--to openly embrace the groups undeniably ear-pleasing brand of pinch harmonic-fueled sonic insanity, one must, at the very least, sincerely admire the quintets refreshingly unique ability to effectively harness the finest elements of both the Death and Thrash Metal genres without borrowing to the point of becoming pointlessly derivative (i.e. too much from a single group or a particular era), a factor that should help the ferocious fivesome gain a dedicated domestic following. If you have grown tired--and were quite sure that you have--of the apparently endless array of seemingly disposable Euro Death acts aimlessly roaming the countryside, then this, my friends, might just be the high octane cure for what ails you. Trust me, you wont be disappointed.<<
THE DARKEST HOURS: >> I could talk about this album for a very long time but you'll love it for the guitar & hooks. Yes, it's catchy but it's heavy as hell at the same time so don't expect a compromise to sound commercial cause that's definitly not the case! To be honest, it's hard for me, even after many listen, to find a negative point concering this release cause it has been well done. Some brutality, some melody,etc..,etc..everything is there! <<
THE METAL FORGE: >> The Inhuman Aberration, whilst perhaps nothing ground breaking within the melodic death metal genre, is a solid and enjoyable listen that sees the band mature and build on the material and sound of their debut. If you liked Eternal Cosmic Slaughter, then this one is a more than worthy follow up, and for those that may not have heard of Urkraft until now, The Inhuman Aberration is the place to start! <<
NOCTURNAL HORDE: >> This album is quite impressive from the start to the end, the way the band uses the keyboards to build up and close atmospheres, and parts of the songs are amazing. A slow Morbid Angel with the atmospheric spacey touches of Hypocrisy could be a way to define the music. Though we are getting served much more than that. When you go down to the store to check out the album, be sure to listen to 'The Only Gods', an amazing atmospheric and slightly epic track, offering all the best of Urkraft and 'Liberation' an atmospheric, yet very brutal track, one of the fastest and most diverse tracks on the album, offering a nice epic feel as well. Urkraft has really matured and delivered a breathtaking album, which one can dig deep into and use a lot of time on.<<
LORDS OF METAL: >> The sound of the album is (as expected) loud and clear, the band plays very tight and every now and then a nice solo pops up (like in 'This Great Summer'). But the most important part are the songs themselves. These songs are well written and Urkraft even managed to give them a "face of their own". This Urkraft song identity comes mainly from keyboard player Eg. Eg fills most of the tracks with some synthesizer parts whom stay in the background of the songs, but in the meantime they give the songs also this extra touch of melody and therefore Urkraft sounds different and more interesting compared to so many other (modern) thrash bands nowadays.<<
BLISTERING: >> Comparatively speaking, Urkraft doesnt have the polish and/or bedazzled melodicism its countrymen in Mercenary have, or the thrash-tastic buzz of Hatesphere, but the band has a lot going for itself, namely the fact that most of The Inhuman Aberration kills. Benefiting greatly from one of the thickest drum tones put to tape, Urkrafts blend of melodic death metal and bruising industrial metal is a welcome addition to the Danish metal scene.
LIVING FOR METAL: >> If I had to pick a couple of tracks that exemplify the band (which is a hard thing to do), I'd pick "Too Strong For The Strongest Lord" & "The Inhuman Aberration". All in all, Urkraft haven't utilized anything groundbreaking in this album, BUT have utilized and blended the best traits of Swedish melodies and aggressive thrash to create something that is quite unique. Once again, the intelligent use of the keyboards plays a huge role in the success of this album.
One thing that I know for sure -- This album WILL Bang Your Head!! I look forward to the future releases from Urkraft & if your a fan of Swedish melodies applied in a aggressive thrashy manner then you can't go wrong with Ukraft's "The Inhuman Aberration". I'll be listening to this one for awhile. <<
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