Have you ever begun listening to a band simply because of the name. I have, in fact I do it a lot... maybe more then I should. Like for the Melbourne Grindcore band Super-Fun Happy Slide (honestly how could you not like that name!?) or Cutting Pink With Knives, they're odd and eye catching, you cant help BUT check them out. Azriel were no different.
I did go into this thinking "Christ, its just gonna be another one of those Modern Life is War style knock off bands that are all the rage at the moment", I mean, I do like those bands as much as the next guy, but when did originality die? And was even more skeptical when I saw the tell tale signs of Dan Mumford artwork, again, I love Mr. Mumford's art, its fantastic, but its being really over used at the moment and kind of used as some kind of badge of merit and achievement, a symbol of a band going places to have Mumford artwork. But I was pleasantly surprised, the Myspace tracks (yeah, I use myspace, so what!?) where actually amazing and something a bit different. These guys are a Hardcore band, but they take heavy influence from Metal, though they aren't particularly heavy, they are RIFFY AS FUCK! This band's LP is chocked full of "hawt lixx". Infact the band barely have time to sound heavy with the sheer amount of riff going on and how it managed to not sound "Showy offy" I will never know. This is a release on Thirty Days of Night Records who are distributed through Warner, so its Warner sinking its dirty teeth into Hardcore, which to me always seemed a bit contrary to the nature of Punk, but that aside its a great record.
Ill admit, even though this record came on 1 of 300 orange LP's the CD artwork is a lot better in my opinion (still Dan Mumford, just a different concept, see below), but what can you do? Its still an awesome record. There was also no lyric sheet which annoys me, but that could just be because of an error, or intentional, its annoying if its intentional.
Like I said, this record is pure riff. The instrumentals are completely flawless, the harmonies are fantastic, the bass is powerful, the drums are thundering and it brings it all together into a complete powerhouse of a record which makes me think of a herd of wild stallions thundering across and open plain (lord knows why, but it does). Its got some pretty typical vocals too, all gruff and shouty and some decent shout outs too.
The stand out track for me is Of Those Who Are Alive, which is simply fantastic, a really gem of a track, all the others are shiners too, but this one really stands outs!
Its a great record, if you're into techy Hardcore then Id say get it. They're a fantastic band and I recommend this record to anyone.
J.W (Thirty Days of Night)
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