When I received the promo of Irish Scavenger's debut full length album 'Madness to Our Method' and started to listen to it, one name came to my mind: Primordial. First 33 seconds is eerie bass playing. But no, this is no Primordial. Scavenger's metal is thrashing heavy metal, although of darker ilk. The band have labeled their music as "sharp edged power metal", but this hasn't got much common with Freedom Call, Rhapsody or Sonata Arctica. This is really powerful, unlike most power metal bands. Scavenger does a good job stealing the term back to where it belongs to.

Scavenger's debut is really a worth the release. The band has personality. Their song structures are enough out of norm, so this album offers more pleasurably listens. The songs can go from calm to metal thrashing mad parts (like the beginning of 'Storm Warning', very fitting). But some songs go on for too long. Thanks to all gods of metal there's a lot of fine, catchy riffing on offer or some other interesting activities going on and more importantly; some surprising turns, too. So, I don't feel all the songs are water-proof. When listening to Scavenger, I don't get any other names circling in my brains, but sometimes this sounds so familiar. It's not all just so in-your-face. Vocals are surely unique and it can be heard there's no holding back, but still they lack in real skillful singing, especially on higher notes. All vocals are clean, ranging from normal to more aggressive output.

I'm really wondering which way to go with the production. On the other hand it is good and on the other not. It is certainly muddy on guitars. Definitely different for this style metal, but also lacking especially in leads and solos departments; the lead guitar is also bloody muddy and the solo guitar rattles like it's broken. The acoustic guitar at least sounds good. The rhythm duo is heavy and offers some serious vibrations for sure and still the cymbals are clear. Nothing wrong there, as ain't with the vocals. Everything sounds organic and live, and everything is audible in the mix. It just got some time to work in nowadays' standards. I think there's more to guitars that is at first clear, since they just sound so different for this type of metal. Again, it's not all just so in-your-face.

This sounds better with every listen given. Hell, this isn't an easy album at first few listens! However, it certainly has charm, which is hard to be determined, straight from the beginning. There's nothing too usual here. It is somewhat

Rating: 7+ (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Lane
08/18/2004 18:32