ARKHAN

Swiss death metal quartet Arkhan formed back in 2003 and it's been seven years since their last full-length album, 'M.A.C.H.I.N.E.' materialised in 2006 but now we have their latest offering in the form of 'Primal'. Press blurb states their influences as Entombed, Bloodbath and Morbid Angel (as well as Motörhead) so expectations are set for old school death with a Lemmy twang. And that is exactly what they deliver on this album. Well, forget the Lemmy twang as, vocally, this is pure death through and through although what Arkhan have injected their old school death influences with is a seriously infectious hit of groove. Generally, it's a fast-paced affair although some variation in tempo during most of the tracks (and some pastiched 'classic metal' flavours à la Motörhead et al) lift this above mere generic old school death. However, whether they be thrashing it out at hyper-speed or sitting back on more down/mid-tempo riffage, it remains a groovy bastard at all times. Crushing, brutal etc, etc are clichéd adjectives invariably used to describe extreme metal but they're applicable here, also thanks in part to a massive production courtesy of Christoph Noth and a fine mixing/mastering job by David Castillo (who's CV includes work with the likes of Opeth, Bloodbath and Katatonia). All instruments and vocals have been given enough weight in the production and mix to heighten the intensity of the compositions. It's a hard-hitting groovy death beast! There's even a cheeky techno-pop intro thrown into the mix to open third track 'The Last Resonance' to temporarily throw listening attention but this implodes after half a minute to give way to more crushingly aggressive death. With 'Primal', there's no new ground covered here at all but Arkhan's groove-death aesthetic is executed to perfection. Well worth checking out.

LABEL:

FORMAT:

Monkey Records

Album

PRIMAL

Review by Mark Holmes

RUNNING TIME:

37:35

RELEASE DATE:

Jan 2013

TRACK LISTING

1) Martyrs
2) Fragile Equilibrium
3) The Last Resonance
4) You, Monster
5) Atomic Supermen
6) Shutdown
7) Lolita
8) Dead End

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:

Switzerland

"...a hard-hitting groovy death beast!"