Raven
ExtermiNation
SPV/Steamhammer
2015
One has to give it to Raven, for rocking on steadily for the past four decades. Almost 35 years and 13 studio album into their recording career, the Gallagher brothers, still rock and never drop a beat, with Joe Hasselvander behind the drum kit making sure of that. The “athletic” rockers, are still able to churn out, some pretty straightforward, but quite timeless and energetic metallic rock ‘n roll, which sometimes gravitates towards the vintage, but more often, just borders on half-speed metal! (lol) They’re not as young or energetic as during their heyday, but still they come pretty close... I mean, when bands that they supposedly influenced and are generally, younger than them, have trouble performing their own songs, Raven, still manages to not disgrace or embarrass themselves on stage. Obviously the amount of touring that they have been through is not the same, but they are still a pretty active live band.
“ExtermiNation” is pretty brutal in places and as a whole, probably the most complete thing they’ve done in years, probably dating back to the “Architect of Fear” album in the early 90s, with songs like “Battle March Tank Treads (The Blood Runs Red)”, “Fire Burns Within” and “One More Day” sharing the ferocity and the darkness, present in that album along with the darker and slower “River of No Return”. On the other hand there are also songs like the crazed opener “Destroy All Monsters” (a tip of the hat to their own – live album?!), “Fight”, “Scream”, “Feeding the Monster” and “Thunder Down Under” or the relentless “No Surrended” more or less cover the “Need For Speed”, in a way not dissimilar to that of 80s Judas Priest, simple yet effective riffs and melodic screaming! Not exactly as good as Priest, but hey, Raven were a trio and reasonably good fun. They have never released something “absolutely” shitty, like a lot of other bands have, in those 40 years the key is, dependability I guess... you can expect Raven to deliver and they hardly ever fail to do so.
If you like Raven or simple, but effective, meat and potatos old school Rock‘n’Metal, “ExtermiNation” will not disappoint!
“ExtermiNation” is pretty brutal in places and as a whole, probably the most complete thing they’ve done in years, probably dating back to the “Architect of Fear” album in the early 90s, with songs like “Battle March Tank Treads (The Blood Runs Red)”, “Fire Burns Within” and “One More Day” sharing the ferocity and the darkness, present in that album along with the darker and slower “River of No Return”. On the other hand there are also songs like the crazed opener “Destroy All Monsters” (a tip of the hat to their own – live album?!), “Fight”, “Scream”, “Feeding the Monster” and “Thunder Down Under” or the relentless “No Surrended” more or less cover the “Need For Speed”, in a way not dissimilar to that of 80s Judas Priest, simple yet effective riffs and melodic screaming! Not exactly as good as Priest, but hey, Raven were a trio and reasonably good fun. They have never released something “absolutely” shitty, like a lot of other bands have, in those 40 years the key is, dependability I guess... you can expect Raven to deliver and they hardly ever fail to do so.
If you like Raven or simple, but effective, meat and potatos old school Rock‘n’Metal, “ExtermiNation” will not disappoint!