AVVThird full length from Texan occult rockers has taken a decided shift from dark and brooding folk tones of previous album ‘Deathlike’ and moved into louder, brasher territory. Whereas their previous record was cerebral, intelligent and thought provoking, it seems that the three-piece have sold out to peer pressure and taken on a simple minded doom approach to their music.

The end result, while mighty sounding in places, is one-dimensional chugging riffs and vocalist Nathan Opposition has lent a horrible nasal quality to his voice that makes him sound like pre-pubescent teenager with a cold.  The trio have over simplified their music in what can only be deciphered as an attempt to appeal to the masses. While their previous records were certainly an acquired taste, they were at least interesting to listen to and unique, unlike the paint by numbers riffs that over saturate each and every song on ‘Sacrificial’.

The same formula drags its knuckles along for every song, covering a span of an absolutely unbearable 37 minutes. Each chord hammers another nail into the coffin of what was once a distinctive and respectable band, now lain to waste in favour of an act that sounds pretty much the same as every other boring metal band currently falling off the conveyor belt. Clearly what’s important here is not to keep a wholesome and inimitable sound, while retaining a small but dedicated fan base, but instead to copy what’s popular in order to make big bucks and alienate those that got you where you are in the first. Yawn.

(2/10 Angela Davey)

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