Vermin to the Earth

Last year's Thrall debut Away from the Haunts of Men was quite a welcome and well-rounded machination of sorrow and darkness that took me by surprise for both its nihilistic disposition and authenticity. Well, the line-up has expanded by one for the follow-up, but the style of the Australian outfit hasn't changed all that much, which is both the strength and weakness to this sophomore. I mean, Vermin to the Earth even looks remarkably similar to its predecessor, so there is no shock that the band are treading familiar territory, striving only for an aesthetic consistency. And yet, despite its steady, rueful presence and a handful of riffs that stand out across its pitch black landscape, this is not so much a stride forward as one to the side.

Vermin to the Earth returns to the formula of faster, blasted passages and slower, rocking rhythms redolent of influences like Darkthrone, Burzum and Bathory, but this is all wrought in a clean, shadowy package that feels constantly like a sun setting across a barren desert. About half the tracks feel functional but average, with firm textures of desolation but no real standout riffs; whereas the other half have something more to offer. "Oblivion" is a good example of one of the album's more potent pieces, with slowly churning black/rock rhythms slathered in echoing rasps, but a few jarring twists to the guitar that keep the listener on the edge of his/her seat. A few other choice tracks include the spacey, sobering "Vita Vacuus Voluntas", the shining and versatile "Plague of Man" and the haunting slog that is "Ecstasy not of the Flesh". In fact, the latter half of the album seems to focus more on slower music adorned in crisp, ringing guitars, but measured blast beats are often thrown in to prevent a gray monotony from setting in.

I understand that uniformity is likely a quality held high for this project, and this explains the flush similarity to the debut album, but I would have liked to hear Tom Void and company try some more intense twists to this expanse of concentrated emptiness. One need not stick wholly to the orthodox instrumentation with this sort of record: added keys, percussion or local folk instruments would do much to dress up some of the bleaker vistas. Vermin to the Earth is a solid, fulfilling effort to say the least, with an excellent polish to the production that never feels overly processed. Thrall really lets its audience feel each kick, each note, and each rasp of torment contributing to this swaggering course of oblivion. But I'm not sure the same trick is going to work thrice, so I hope next time out for an added sheen of variation to the Australians' firm fundamentals.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

Hailing from the Outback's badlands, Tasmania, Australia's Thrall is misanthropic to the core, lifeless and devoid of love. In the last few years, Tasmania has shown how metal it can be with bands such as Psycroptic and Cauldron causing more cyclones and dust storms than, yeah you guessed it, the Tasmanian Devil. Thrall is no exception and with their new release "Vermin To The Earth", it just absolutely oozes with totality and hatred, beauty and death as well. With a total of seven tracks and not one under the five minute mark, but not one over the ten minute mark, "Vermin To The Earth" is the "perfect imperfection" release of a metalhead's dream. It doesn't drag on relentlessly until you're asleep and it isn't so short that you walk away pissed off.

I've heard comparisons of Thrall to Leviathan and Deathspell Omega, as for once, I can honestly say yes, they are there. "Vermin To The Earth" is Wrest's and Deathspell Omega's love child, but "Vermin..." screams, "Fuck you I can stand on my own!", and I'd also have to agree that yes, this release does stand on it's own two cloven hooves in many ways. Nothing is overdone and no riffs are recycled, each tremolo laced riff is placed perfectly where it needs to be in each song. The vocals are insanely comprehend-able all the while hateful and vicious. Nothing experimental or silly going on here(no bedroom bullshit), just pure homosapien despising black metal.

Standout songs are "Oblivion", "Vermin To The Earth", "Plague Of Man", and "Mass Extinction".