That's no news, that Poland's spewing out loads of good metal bands. Bloodwritten, whose craft is somewhat blackened thrash metal, is a new acquaintance to me. They've been active since 1997, but not until their third long-player, 'Thrashin' Fury', I heard about 'em. Better late than never?
If a song like 'Whore' is doomed to be my first taste of Bloodwritten, well, why not! It's Destruction's early days that this opener reminds of. Oh those times, when bullet belts were so heavy that guys wearing them would almost collapse under the weight. It starts fast and energetic, with just a couple of riffs thrown to listeners, but slows to headbangadble riff in the middle. Gladly, these few riffs are good and catchy enough. It's performed with energy and ardor, which almost makes up for simplistic songwriting. Bloodwritten carry this blackened feel to them, just like Sodom, Destruction and the likes back in the day when they still were young as bands. Big part of the vocals is throaty black metal croaking and barking. Opening with sounds of war, 'Drums of War' showcases darker vibe. Cool lead guitar makes me think of God Dethroned and slower part towards the end is like Slayer. Here, the vocals are emulating Mille (Kreator). Talking about German thrash legends, 'Unleashed the Unholy' shows some love for Sodom.
These elements are heard during the rest of the album, too. Think of Hypnosia's 'Extreme Hatred' platter from 2000, and you're pretty close to how 'Thrashin' Fury' sounds like. None of the songs make me push "forward" button, but still it all feels kind of flat, because the real king songs are missing. It's simply good, driving beating for most of the time, but I cannot see this album in anybody's top ten of all-time thrash metal albums. Or top twenty, for that matter... Still, it's well above average. The band's musical spectrum cannot be called as "wide" by any means. Maybe more of stylistic variety could have helped. A few second of Machine Head-ish stuff at the beginning of 'Zombie Survival' certainly is enough of that kind of material...
While the performances are energetic and rip-roaring, the band sounds tight. Not virgin-tight, perhaps, but still bloody tight. They can channel this all through to a listener. The guitars are ripping and sometimes sounding like an equivalent to chainsaw. Palm muting the riffs gives an "ooomph" effect. The bass guitar sound varies between clanking, metallic and rubbery. It's well discernible in the production. The drums provide both bass and treble. The snare is short and tight, the tom drums quite boxy, and the kick drum, well, kicks! No triggering utilized, I presume. At its heaviest, the sound simply rams forward like jet engine thrust. This effect plus the energy the band has: Oh yes!!! The biggest con about the whole production values is the booklet, which is glued to the digipak. What a crap idea! The lyrical themes are thrashy: War, evil, zombies, pirates and things nuclear. They are rather basic, but do their work.
Even though this is not a thrash metal masterpiece, Bloodwritten have gotten many things right. It blasts with its potency and offers some good songs to headbang to, and by cutting a track or two, it would have been so much more, so to speak. Anyway, as it often goes with thrash metal, it's best consumed with gallons of beer!
Rating: 7+ (out of 10) ratings explained
Reviewed by Lane
01/29/2015 17:32
