A band who wanted to be a clone - the story of Casketgarden. Well, at least judged by this, their sophomore album. Hungarian Casketgarden emerged in 1998, recorded 3 demos and 4 albums and then quit.

I mean if you know At The Gates and The Haunted, you simply cannot escape the thought about Casketgarden cloning those two Björler brothers' Swedish legends. The Haunted started in 1996 and were warmly welcomed by metalheads, and even to bigger degree, metal press. So, it was inevitable; the landslide of replicas. And hey, it's totally understandable. This happens with everything, even with things that do not get much recognition. Heck, the band's name was taken from a Dismember song...

Casketgarden managed to pen some memorable, dramatic and brutal songs, for sure. Striking US thrash metal with pummeling death metal spiced with melodies (familiar harmonic twin guitars as expected, but still so tasty, but also one-guitar leads) and chord sequences that have, in a way, a melancholic aura to them at times. However, it is not friendly, even if it had this affective side to it. Fast, aggressive thrash riffing (it can remind of Testament, Slayer, Exodus, but rather well disguised) can be sharp, and heavy-handed death metal hoeing is a suitable companion, and every song has some melodiousness going on. While being melodic death-thrash, it is not immediately catchy, but needs more spinning to get the songs. There's no lack of talent in guitar playing, for sure.

The drumming is as intense as everything else, and there is no shortage of multiple beats (well, there's a bit of "what not", pacing varies from mid-tempos to fast thrashing). The drummer, Attila Cseh, is all around his kit, a bromide, but still very true here. Drums-wise, this actually reminds me of Darkane. Plus, the drums weren't triggered. It's organic, so to speak, and the fine thing is it, that everything is audible, unlike on some albums with non-triggered drums where a band plays heavy, loud music. The bass goes on following the drums, and is definitely quite buried in the background.

Damn, I really, really am worried about condition of the vocalist István Cseh's throat! He uses similar ripping, screaming growl as ATG's Tomas Lindberg. It sounds devastating, especially to that throat it comes from, and to listener's ears. It definitely is a nasty style, and when it's about nothing else (well, a short part with rapping, sort of), it is bloody annoying to say the least. Like an animal taken to slaughter... The lyrics aren't bad, only rather typical. But there are some cool pieces: "The north wind had to spread my smell on this battle field, all around" and "devaluation, degradation, I'm good at reduced price for this goddamn nation" among other.

If I didn't know better, I'd say Casketgarden must've come from Sweden. And because it isn't bad, whether one can tolerate the ear-grating vocals, at least it's very easy to give Casketgarden its target audience. And because of the energetic performances and songwriting quality, this stays in my collection. There is no straight copying in songwriting. It's a good listen. And to tell the truth, I'm not a big fan of ATG or The Haunted.

Rating: 7- (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Lane
03/02/2018 11:39