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A varied mixture that defines Heavy Metal attitude and aggression.-
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| Vicious Rumors: Razorback Killers |
Heavy Metal, Power Metal
SPV Records
April 5th, 2011
- Murderball - 4:08
- Black - 5:56
- Razorback Blade - 4:12
- Blood Stained Sunday - 5:50
- Pearl of Wisdom - 6:30
- All I Want is You - 4:27
- Axe to Grind - 3:37
- Let the Garden Burn - 5:05
- Rite of Devastation - 4:21
- Deal with the Devil - 7:03
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| Review Information |
Release length: 51:13
Review posted on April 15th, 2011
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| | Overall Score: 8.5/10 |
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| Discography |
Discography covers all information available up to day of review and is updated if future albums are reviewed. |
| Full-Length(s): |
Soldiers of the Night (1986) • Digital Dictator (1988) • Vicious Rumors (1990) • Welcome to the Ball (1991) • Word of Mouth (1994
Something Burning (1996) • Cyberchrist (1998) • Sadistic Symphony (2001) • Warball (2006) • Razorback Killers (2011)
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| EP(s): |
The Voice (1994)
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| Demo(s): |
Demo 1983 (1983) • Demo II (1983)
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| Live CD(s): |
Plug in and Hang On - Live in Tokyo (1992) • A Tribute to Carl Albert (1995)
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| DVD(s): |
The First Ten Years (VHS) (1996) • Crushing the World (2005)
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| Review |
Since the band formed in 1980, Vicious Rumors has been assaulting the Metal audience with a fierce breed of attitude-driven Heavy Metal and Power Metal, sidetracking into a Groove Metal territory in their career as well. HoWas this five year silence taken advantage of to create a brutal and blistering Metal album?
Well, since Warball released back in 2006, the band has suffered through some line-up changes, which is actually pretty typical for the group. Vicious Rumors has a new guitarist by the name of Kiyoshi Morgan, new bassist named Stephen Goodwin, and new vocalist named Brian Allen. They join founding member Geoff Thrope on guitars and drummer Larry Howe, who returned to the group back in 2005. Of course, this is enough to instantly make any savy fan begin to tremble, as it should. When a band goes through a dramatic overhaul, it usually never remains the same band, and that happens to be the case through much of Vicious Rumors releases, as there have been a number of different band members through the years that give each album a unique sound. As for Razorback Killers, it definitely doesn't do any damage, but some real Tim "Ripper" Owens Judas Priest and Iced Earth era comparisons can really be made on many of the tracks, such as on "Blood Stained Sunday" and even "Rite of Devastation", leaving the album to feel a little less unique, though still very powerful and impressive.
For the most part, Razorback Killers sounds more along the lines of a heavier, faster Judas Priest, sort of in the era of Painkiller, which is always a welcome sound as long as the band can bring in a more unique atmosphere to the recording, which they do, bnut not to any jaw dropping extremes. The vocals are your traditional clean Heavy Metal styles, being sung to match the intensity of the album and going into much higher, dominating falsettos. At the same time, there is the accompanying vocal style similar to the one mentioned above, being a more back of the throat style that feels deeper, but just as powerful, as well as some rhaspier vocals thrown in. The falsettos and rhaspier ones are typically during the heavier tracks, such as the opening track "Murderball" and "Razorback Blade", both having a strong, intimidating, commanding fast pace and intensity to the songs, clearly taking from late eighties to early nineties Heavy Metal bands. These tracks really stand out on the recording and are enough to tense up the listener and make the hairs on his or her back stand up from the sheer intimidation these tracks bring with them.
Of course, this is just the band's Heavy metal input. The group has other influences that come into play here, and even the Heavy Metal elements don't go without being touched with something else, as "Razorback Blade" has a furious speed to it that rivals the Heavy Metal sound, and comes off more a Thrash influence more along the lines of bands like Sodom at their quickest and most intense. "Pearl of Wisdom" even takes on a more Hard Rock ballad vibe, though has a strong Heavy Metal foundation to it with decent intensity in the guitars outside the more emotion-driven chorus, some digitally altered gutterals that sound more like belching then anything, and a very impressive guitar solo. Even the fact that it's six and a half minutes long isn't bad as the band manages to make the song lively and varied with plenty of changes to the music, building from a ballad to a much stronger and aggressive sound by the end, enough to keep the listener attentive the whole time. There's also the track "Let the Garden Burn" which, lyrically is a little odd as to the setting, but comes off as your traditional Metal anthem type of song with a good dose of Hard Rock attitude, a complete opposite from the more Hard Rock ballad input that "Pearl of Wisdom", as well as "All I Want is You" is given, and it's enough to make anyone listening break out their lighters or throw their fists in the air and chant along with the band.
With all that said, that leaves only the Power Metal aspect of the band's release, and that's where the album starts to fall apart. While it's not bad, and often shows shades of the "Ripper" Owens era of Iced Earth, these really aren't the strongest tracks on the release. "Black" is really the first time you'll happen on these Power Metal recordings, and while they're not bad, they're just all that thrilling to listen to, often coming in at a slower pace then normal and just feeling very bland and traditional, especially for fans of the aforementioned band. Even when the band is hammering away with a strong Heavy Metal presence, then cuts in some Power Metal elements like with "Blood Stained Sunday", it just feels tacked on and doesn't really do much to solidify the release, especially given how well the band manages to pull off the more commanding Heavy Metal sound, and practically soak it at times with Thrash aggression and inspirations.
Razorback Killers has plenty of variety to the release, but sadly not all of it feels unique to the group, or completely original for this day and age in general. Other then the above comparisons, others can be made throughout the album, but despite that it's not all that original a release, for a band that has existed for well over thirty years, it's still a great release. The songs have the right atmospheres for the style being played, and there's a good measure of intensity and intimidation met with harmonization and melody throughout Razorback Killers, the Vicious Rumors doesn't really captivate their audience with the more Power Metal material, leaving it to feel bland, generic, and even just not that energetic, often feeling like it's more filler then a quality track or chunk of a song. In the end, it's well worth a listen, and will definitely see plenty of repeat spins.
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Digital review copy of this release provided by:
SPV Records
via Freeman Promotions.
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