The Thundering Apocalyptic Serenity Of Chaos
You Will Burn
Razor Sharp Death Blizzard
When a band has been put together by former members of hardcore punk giants Swellbellys and brutal metal band Ridgeback then you can be assured their music will never be heard playing softly in the background of some upper class drawing room on a lazy Sunday morning while an elderly lady relaxes with a cup of imported Italian coffee and the newspapers. Razor Sharp Death Blizzard are as insolently turbulent as their name suggests. They have no hidden surprises (who does that shit anyway?) and are as brutally aggressive as you suspected they'd be... consider a terrain of heavy wasteland where the vitriolic sound carves out trenches and drains colour from horizons.
It's the sheer weight and supremacy of the sound that you become aware of firstly... it's the first thing to reach you.. a towering wave of thundering drumbeats and insubordinate guitar riffs stampeding a way forwards on an unstoppable barrage of menacing savagery. Juggernaut sized in both volume and presence... a tirade of head mashing riffs unfolding for war. Yet for all it may appear disjointed and without direction... and in less competent hands I have no doubt it would very easily become just that... when you bring all its parts together in a right way... as is here... it shows how brilliantly well it all works.
There are so many catchy moments here... you just don't expect to find them on an album like this. But I'm wrong. Little flourishes of musicianship... from the smallest of unexpected chord changes to the sudden change of tactic/direction in a between verses riff... and it's when those twists and spins and neat turns catch you that you realise it's a much cleverer, structural piece of songwriting than the three chord noise monster people dismiss the products of this genre as being. The lead vocals are a violation of decency... a gore drenched, raw throated abrasive growl of unsettling power-violence that burrows into the floor to prowl caverns beneath us... as mighty at times than the force of nature, the scum eloquence criss-crossing pathways below stirring an ambiance of violent intent and nightmares rehearsed.
Definite standout moments on this album... and there are many... like the swaggering guitar of "Christian Sun"... the complete change of style, pace and tone for the brilliant "Right Wing Scum"... all out punk rock bluster of "Meet Your Maker" with guitar and drums meshing together brilliantly... and the melodic riff that dominates "Defstein" which is almost endearing enough to suit Whitesnake. Maybe Razor Sharp Death Blizzard will unleash a wrecking ball of fresh air into a scene filled with shitehawk revivalists whose limp wristed symphonies shall implode internally and black rivers of blood will gush from their ears and drown a city forever? Failing that they'll possibly just fucking kill you.
