Vampires; mythical creatures whom thrive off the life and limb from living beings, regardless of their morbid state. Take four-piece nickname laden death metal band Vampire, hailed from the depths of Gothenburg and Stockholm who aim to proceed this graveyard thriving nature, and take it to the crevasse of ungodly dark riffs and raucousness. Their self-titled album will take you on a journey of somber gothic goodness, that lasts a deathly pronto 36 minutes and 44 seconds.
The album opens with ‘Orexis’, the shortest track on the record. But by no means does this blast of cacophonous aptitude hold back. Vocals from Hand of Doom charge instantly ahead of breakneck riff momentum that take this band and place them into the 60’s film industry, that thrived off Hammer horror films such as Frankenstein. Not that the grotesque creature could match the albums subsequent tracks however.
Each track boasts a name that pays tribute to the bloodthirsty gory nature of the gothic. ‘Howl From The Coffin’ and ‘Cellar Grave Vampire’ exhume distorted guitars, ferocious growling alongside double kicks that knock you for six. Although these are expected death metal traits, the extremity it provides lends itself to 90’s Scandinavian influences. Nihilist sound synonymous to that of Carnage’s ‘Deranged From Blood’ is found especially in ‘Ungodly Warlock’ through its darkened tempo changes and haunting context.
Although at times it feels like the genre has been stereotypically conveyed, the record does showcase elements of originality that save it from being just your expected exterminator style breakdowns and blood deducing vocals album. The opener to ‘The Fen’ idealises the low-tone repetition that frightens in films, but tempts in a way that builds up to conventional gloomy acceleration. Likewise, ‘The Bestial Abyss’ concludes in a mysterious fashion that provides eerie guitar musicality, but still retains a quickened percussion that suits the dark metal genre.
Overall, Vampire’s self-titled album succeeds into conveying its influences from contemporary horror and its predecessor dark metal Scandinavian ancestors through spooky themes and bloodcurdling heavy musicality. However, its originality that it aims to fulfil is questionable in a genre that is so difficult to break from the term ‘gimmick’ at times. But, their retainment to create theatre and eeriness cannot be taken away from them, and this record certainly won’t be the last we hear of this quartet.
