Animals

Sometimes the greatest example of a style is found among the pioneering albums that originally codified it, but at others said expression needs some time to develop before its true potential is unleashed. The jury is naturally out as to what stands as the perfect groove metal album, though a strong case could be made that it not to be found among the seminal works of Pantera or Machine Head, assuming that the rightly lauded Cowboys From Hell out of the former is excluded from the running given its closer affinity to old school heavy metal practices and its successor Vulgar Display Of Power is treated as the earliest entry. One of the recent contenders that is a bit closer to the ideal is the Costa Rican outfit Savage Existence, owing largely to a combination of superior production practices, and the advantage of being able to combine elements from different eras of the 90s groove metal craze via hindsight into something a bit more comprehensive.

To be clear, both Savage Existence and their independently produced debut Animals are full on expressions of the groove metal sound, almost to a fault when properly considered. It's not so much a tribute band that happens to write original songs while aping one band's style, but a proper emulation thereof where numerous elements from multiple bands and periods in history are mixed together into an appetizing sonic stew, bolstered by a greater sense of professionalism and the advantage of advanced home studio technology note readily available 30 years prior. Though at this juncture only a 3-piece in a studio capacity, the combined efforts of drummer Jesse Radford, guitarist Daniel Cleland (whom also handles bass duties) and guitarist/vocalist Anton Darusso functions more along the lines of a 5-piece band, combining the expanded arrangement of Machine Head and Lamb Of God with the punch and attitude of Pantera, encompassing a rich mixture of early, mid and late 90s metallic tropes.

Each song on here presents a well-oiled stomping machine of raw aggression that is also reasonably adventurous and isn't satisfied to simply pound away on the same 2-3 chords for three or four minutes. Darusso shows an uncanny ability to not only imitate Phil Anselmo's gut-wrenching barks and shrieks, but also the middle of the road gruff and smoother baritone singing heard out of the likes of Robb Flynn, Gus Chambers and Joe Rodriquez in their respective crimes; no small feat for a guy who also fronts a duo of power metal projects in Wings Of Destiny and Marco Garau's Fantasy Dream that call for a radically different vocal style. The showcase he puts on during mid-paced anthems like "Demons" and semi-ballad "Turret On The Bunker" alone run a wide gamut that most groove metal front men would struggle to pull off competently, with brilliant guitar displays out of both his and Cleland that could easily rival some of the more riveting moments heard out of Flynn and Demmel during the late 2000s/early 2010s era of Machine Head. Other points of interest include the sludgy nod to Trendkill-era Pantera "Winds Of Shit", the harrowing low-end stomp of "Savage Medicine" and the ultra-catchy and multifaceted title anthem "Animals", but the underwhelming moments on this album are few and far between.

This is groove metal, composed by fans of groove metal, for other fans of said sub-genre that want something that is unmistakably typical yet never heard before. It's the sort of album that anyone can easily point to and say "this was taking its cues directly from these bands during this time period", yet also be hardpressed to call derivative and concede is about as competent of a tribute to the original as could have been mustered. It is only really limited by the inherent limitations of its adopted style, and it maximizes the potential contained within those set boundaries as well as anyone could. Those who long for the days when the Abbott brothers were still with us and a reunion of Pantera was possibly in the cards will find some needed solace in these songs, as will anyone who is nostalgic for the days when this style was the chief counterpoint to the alternative rock craze. It pulls zero punches, makes zero apologies, and those who come to it expecting raw aggression delivered at a moderate tempo will come away wanting more.