I really like Horror movies, it goes hand in hand with a love of Death Metal. Seriously though, I can’t get enough, be it Slasher classics, underground depraved movies in the vein of Guinea Pig or (a personal favourite) the camp gorefests of Troma. I could literally watch nothing but Horror I think, this is probably because much like Metal it knows no bounds. Indeed, if you can imagine it there is probably already a Metal or Horror equivalent of said thing. Don’t get me wrong I love most genres of film but Horror will always hold a special place in my heart.
Indeed a love of Horror seeps into the Metal world with great fluidity. So much so that bands dedicate themselves wholeheartedly, much like Voorhees. Named of course after the infamous Slasher icon Jason from the Friday The 13th franchise, and hailing from France this Death Metal band aim to give us blood. They formed in 2017 and quickly released an EP entitled Chapter One that same year. Now in 2020 we are given Chapter Two in the form of a full length debut through Great Dane Records. Can this album prove as much of a success as the early part of the Jason saga or will it be likened to Jason Takes Manhattan?
An atypical grunt opens The Lucky Ones Die First followed by some pretty generic Death Metal instrumentation. The vocals continue with an almost Deicide quality, with occasional screams atop the more guttural traditional vocals. Imagine a more guttural Oderus Urungus. The album progresses in a Metal by numbers fashion with some very drawn out generic riffs in Evil To Come. It’s not bad, just pretty boring, although I will say that the drumming is impressive. Overall, however it’s a fairly dull affair that will leave you somewhat unamused and tired.
It would appear that the second half of the album is equally as painful, I’m The Man Who Became God proves this to the fullest extent. The track is over six minutes and it feels more like sixty minutes. It doesn’t get much better either, going into Reanimated the track does what it says on the tin, rehashing ‘my first Death Metal album’ riffs and song structures to create something wholly underwhelming. Thankfully however the album does end with Into Darkness, a final push that presents itself as a straight to video Death Metal number that does little more than give us the clear notion that the album is indeed at an end.
Unlike a bad horror movie Chapter Two wasn’t entertaining. As stated and without trying to sound harsh this sort of generic Death Metal isn’t bad, it just isn’t very exciting or indeed treading new ground. I basically mean that generic doesn’t mean bad because it means normal and we as Metal fans enjoy said sound. Yet staying too much within those confines makes for boring music and indeed Metalheads are always listening to music or on the lookout for something new. If you want to check Voorhees out then go for it, you might just like it, as for me I’m fine as I am.
(4/10 George Caley)
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