BLOOD TSUNAMI

Now this is how I like my thrash - pace, control and, most important of all, a feral insanity pervading through. This, Blood Tsunami’s second album, reminds me of Impaled Nazarene with a keen punk edge to the black thrash on offer. Unrelenting yet melodic could be the best way to describe ‘Grand Feast for Vultures’. All the performances are top notch from these Norwegians, with former Emperor drummer Bård G."Faust" Eithun powering the whole album along with a real organic feel whilst Kristoffer "Dor" Sørensen and Peter "Pete" Michael Kolstad Vegem do their best Maiden widdling especially on the instrumental ‘Eceladus Rising’. Now, I’m not overly a fan of instrumentals and usually skip them each subsequent time I listen to an album but this has kept my attention on every listen through - all 12 minutes 32 seconds! There is a rawness to the production that keeps this album sounding vibrant, reminding me of later Keep of Kalessin albums. If you’re a fan of KoK then you’ll certainly love Blood Tsunami’s second effort. I get the impression that this is a band with no fear of experimentation, which by no means is to say you have a weird avant garde album here, rather that this is a band comfortable with who they are and can throw in progressive elements, melodic elements and craft songs of any length to suit what they need. In the current wave of the thrash revival, Blood Tsunami are standing head and shoulders above the crowd. Now, you could say most of what you hear has been done before and, yes, I’d agree with that but when it’s done this well it is certainly worth owning and listening to more!

LABEL:

FORMAT:

Candlelight Records

Album

GRAND FEAST FOR VULTURES

Review by Paul Sims

RUNNING TIME:

51:19

RELEASE DATE:

27th April 2009

TRACK LISTING

1) Castle of Skulls
2) Nothing But Contempt
3) Personal Exorcism
4) Laid to Waste
5) Grand Feast For Vultures
6) Horsehead Nebula
7) One Step Closer to the Grave

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:

Norway

"...a band with no fear of experimentation, which by no means is to say you have a weird avant garde album here, rather that this is a band comfortable with who they are and can throw in progressive elements, melodic elements and craft songs of any length to suit what they need."