Impertinence Arise

Whenever my grandma (R.I.P.) heard that a young lady had become unintentionally pregnant, she smiled knowingly and said: "Nature always finds its way." That's true, but I like to add: whenever I hear rasping, sometimes galloping guitars, a rushing snare and more or less raw vocals, I smile contently, think of my grandma and say: "Speed metal always finds its way". In the case of Victim of Fate, this way has led to another continent. The dudes hail from Mexico and do what all newcomers (should) do: they play the music they like and due to the fact that they act very tightly, this demo does not sound amateurish in any way. Even the production does not originate from a dusty cellar. Of course, I don't listen to a professional sound, but it would be unfair to set the bar too high. The three tracks are presented with a more or less proper amount of pressure and the guitars dominate without marginalizing the contributions of bass, drums and vocals. And so, coming back to my grandma, the band can be proud of its first baby.

Victim of Fate have a good grasp of compact compositions and maybe the solid riffs that carry the songs are just the harbinger of something greater. Speculations aside, the riffs guarantee a more than acceptable level and especially "Wiredslave" has a raw, aggressive touch that fits the musical approach very well. Furthermore, its solo hits the mark - no doubt, the guitar work marks the greatest asset of the band. The vocals leave room for optimization, because they just accompany the six strings without leaving their own aroma. But this is not to say that they reveal major deficiencies. Better still, the entire demo is free from serious flaws. I don't know how much time it took to record the songs in this form, but the result is convincing.

Frankly speaking, this material whets the appetite for more and I hope that Victim of Fate don't get lazy. Maybe they can convince 50% of the citizens of Mexico City to buy this demo - this should be motivation enough to go on. But jokes aside, even if this is not possible, they can count on the support of the underground metal maniacs worldwide. Victim of Fate will not unhinge the world, but they deliver three songs that reflect the unbroken fascination of speed metal. And, as mentioned above, speed metal always finds its way. Ask your grandma, if you don't believe it.

Victim of Fate is a trio from Monterrey, Mexico who play an interesting style of metal that reminds me of both Di'Anno-era Iron Maiden and a particular German metal band. That German metal band isn't Helloween though – it's Scanner.

It's an interesting sound. It's just slightly too fast and aggressive to really parallel early Iron Maiden. It's a little too driving and straightforward to be Scanner. The vocals are a little buried in the recording (which I forgive on account of this being a demo), but they have a sort of distorted production and have a old school hardcore punk feel to me, being this kind of burst-fire yelling, which removes it further from the comparisons.

The riffs are rock solid. The first track goes the route of NWOBHM, has some attitude and a good transition from main to secondary riff. The d-beat gives this track a bit more of a hardcore punk feel. The second track really reminds me of Scanner, opening with a gallop riff, but wastes no time in getting into an all-out speed/thrash metal riff that anchors the remainder of the song. It eases back into the gallop riff in the middle of the song, but the main riff is overplayed here, despite it being a quality riff. The third track's main riff is a bit more generic, it could be Helloween, or Scanner, or could be found in a number of old school heavy or speed metal bands' toolkit. At the same time, it's probably the most melodic riff on this recording, and would probably lend itself to being sung if the vocals were in the right style. The verse riff is very stale, just playing a chord for four beats at a time. This track needed to be about 150% faster to make it standout, I really feel like the riffs would be suited for just pulling out all the stops and playing fast as shit.

The expected (though minimal) crackle and hiss of a demo aside, the way the vocals fall in the mix make it hard to judge exactly what this style would sound like with clear and balanced production values – and aside from the vocals, it does have a pretty crisp sound. The bass even comes through well. By demo standards, this is a pretty damn nice recording.

I was expecting pulls offs and hammer on, trills and thrills, to go with the name that I associate with “Victim of Fate”, but these riffs do have a simple charm to them; straightforward and catchy. They are definitely too repetitive though, and some more diligent song writing can help liven up the songs.

There's potential here. It captures the spirit of old school speed and heavy metal very well, and if the songwriting can be honed, and the vocals worked out, this could be a great band.