MEMORIAM
“FOR THE FALLEN”
Album Review By Custer Elver
8.5/10
Memoriam is a strange creature, which some among you could easily define as a super-metal-band, since the components featuring in the official line up are all coming from some historical British undergroud combos. In fact the singer, Karl Willets, alongisde the drummer Andy Whale, are members of Bolt Thrower (now, sadly no more), while the bassist Frank Healy and the guitarist Scott Fairfax are from Cerebral Fix.
Our guys play a grind/death core, fully inspired by the old school death metal (Asphyx and Gorefest above all), but in some interludes you’ll be able to find several links to a more modern extreme approach, with echoes of Machine Head and Meshuggah. The project Memoriam was born as a tribute to Martin “Kiddie” Kearns, former Bolt Thrower drummer, who passed away a couple of years ago, and all their tracks are clearly impregnated with a blaze of mournful mood. It’s easy to understand that each track is made of thoughts and memories for Kiddie, he is the fallen one, carried out through this convoy, made of 8 chapters.
The album was released in March 2017 by Nuclear Blast and I can assure you that it’s a good shot in the mouth: Excellent groove, great guitars and a perfect blend of strength and melancholia.
The band is able to alternate mid-tempo tracks dragged away by obscure dropped guitars and a fast-and-furious-style, which shows the ability of the rhythm section to drive in full throttle mode.
It’s hard to say what is the best track of the full work, because it’s been produced to a very high standard, even if a weak point could be found, things portray a routine of sameness due to an atmosphere that never changes. But I can say this is a minor issue, and I’m quite sure you all will be blown away by Memoriam’s sound.
Anyway I appreciated a lot “Reduced To Zero”, with its sulphuric mid-tempo and a great performance by Karl on vocals, able to act like a painful bard, come to us to express all his sadness. “Resistance” is another great chapter, with a taste of Slayer in the guitar riffing and its funeral pathos. I have to admit that I hugely preferred the mid-tempo tracks, since the band were able to express their general feeling much better.
For The Fallen is a work forged in darkness, a way to search for the peace of mind, carving a friend’s memory in the eternal stone of a masterpiece. Our guys are not afraid of plunging their hands into the sadness and ripping it apart, using their best weapons: Thrashing rhythms and firing guitars.
Rest In Peace Kiddie
TRACKLIST
Memoriam
War Rages On
Reduced To Zero
Corrupted System
Flatline
Surrounded By Death
Resistance
Last Words
https://www.memoriam.uk.com
https://www.facebook.com/Memoriam2016/?ref=ts&fref=ts
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