VESEN – Rorschach
- Posted on 13-12-2016
Bringing back the primitive raw blackened thrash that has the spirit of old-school fire at heart, Norwegian trio Vesen do not falter on album five "Rorschach". The guitar tone is deadly, occasional blast beats break up the normal up-tempo, punk-ish drumming, while the bass has as much an importance a la Venom and Motörhead. Beyond the fact that the vocals are maniacal, demonic, and pissed-off – just what you want for skull-splitting material like "Pray for Fire" and the steady mid-tempo chug-a-thon that is "Screaming Sane".
The times on this ten-track offering go all over the map – "All in Vain" blistering the landscape at 66 seconds with its machine gun fire riffing and tempo changes, while the follow up "Away the Tormentor" at 7:29 explores more of an epic side with doom parts dominating the first half and more of a darkened, classic metal vibe penetrates the back side of the arrangement. Have no fear over technically perfect studio sounds – Vesen subscribe to the plug in and play mentality, right down to the acidic raspy vocals that keep the chill in the air. Sure, the solo work has a wild side that isn’t going to rub purists the right way – but this is blackened thrash folks, and there are plenty of technically savvy axe players to go to if you dig pure thrash a little more.
41 minutes of grit and grime, feel the dirt of "Rorschach" as the paint melts off the sides of walls and your rage subsides through successive playbacks. Brings me back to the early 90’s tape trading days for sure.
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